Lynn Boylan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will probably repeat some of the points that have already been made. First, I welcome those in the Gallery from the National Youth Council of Ireland, the Dublin Youth Theatre, and some individuals as well. God love them, they have really seen democracy in action today because they have been here for hours waiting for this amendment to come up.

I commend my colleague, Senator Warfield, and also Senator Ruane, for all the work they have done on the previous legislation. Senator Warfield feels passionate about this issue. I know he is watching today. He wants the Minister of State to sit down and meet with him to address his concerns. What he is saying is that it is fine to say the issue is going to go to a commission, but the commission already has a significant body of work and the question is whether it will be able to prioritise it. Will it be a case where we are told it is prioritised but that it will take years to be introduced? We know we do not need a constitutional amendment to allow a vote in European and local elections, which are in 2024. There are two points in that regard. One is that young people are constantly being told that they will have to wait. We keep telling them that we are all in favour of this, but it never seems to happen. They never seem to get the right to vote. It is also a great way of addressing concerns. We hear talk of the red herrings on giving the franchise to people at the age of 16 but we know that they are only red herrings. We have seen Scotland do it, and all of the other jurisdictions to which reference has been made today. Giving 16-year olds the vote in European and local elections will establish a precedent and show the sky does not fall in when young people have the franchise. That makes it much easier for us to have that constitutional amendment to allow the vote at 16 for general elections and presidential elections.

In terms of the benefits of giving the vote to people at 16, we know that young people are now keeping the hospitality sector afloat. The head of the Restaurants Association of Ireland tweeted about the pay and conditions of workers in the hospitality sector. It was said that one particular restaurant was boasting about how the transition-year students were filling the gap. We know young people are working. They are paying their taxes, but they are not getting the representation that they deserve.

The Cathaoirleach, with Senator O'Reilly and others, supported the National Youth Assembly on Climate to sit in this Chamber and to hear from youth voices. Anybody who listened to the quality of the debate and the presentations that day would have been blown away. That is right, because we know that anybody under the age of 50 is facing a very bleak feature unless we address climate change.

Another benefit is related to the idea of developing the habit of voting. I am someone who was very interested in politics from a very young age. I would go with my sister when she was 18 and tell her which ones to vote for because she had no interest although she had the right to vote. It was very clear that it establishes the habit and importance of voting and that a person gets familiar with it. Young people study civic, social and political education, CSPE and while there is criticism of the way it is being rolled out, it is an improvement on the previous curriculum. If young people could vote from the age of 16, we would be able to get them registered to vote then and establish the habit very early on of the importance of engaging in the political system. That is definitely a benefit from such a change.

One of the things we always hear about this country is our ageing population, but my understanding is that Ireland also has the largest youth population. There is something fundamentally wrong if we have a society that has a large number of young people, but they cannot decide how society is organised and run and decisions are being taken that have lifelong implications.

We hear that the Minister of State is giving a commitment, but we have concerns that the commission will not be able to give the issue the attention it needs because of all the other stuff it is being asked to do. There is also a timing element in terms of the European and local elections in 2024. I ask the Minister of State to give a commitment to meet with Senator Warfield when he is back next week. I am sure that after such a meeting he would be happy enough that the issue is given the required commitment and priority.