Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know we are trying to demonstrate a case but we do not carry out any sort of psychological, emotional, well-being or capacity assessment on anybody from the age of 18 upwards. We would not say that 30-year-olds cannot vote because a portion of them do not go to Pride or engage in climate activism. It feels as if we are putting an awful lot of responsibility on 16-year-olds to the extent they have to be super-activists to be deemed worthy of a vote. Politics is more than activism. It is about arriving in the booth. If that is all one does but one does it well and thinks about it before engaging in it, that is worthy too. Having 16-year-old voters is worthy in and of itself without placing too much responsibility on them to have to save the world while they are doing it.