Rebecca Moynihan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

On Committee Stage, we had a very good debate on lowering the voting age to 16.The intent of this amendment could be broken down into two parts. One part of it is very similar to that debate and similar to the amendments tabled by Senators Higgins and Ruane in terms of extending the franchise to bring more people into voting. We are proposing that the commission should be able to conduct research and make recommendations with regard to mandatory voting, lowering the voting age, which ties in with the vote-16 amendments from Senator Ruane and Warfield, and also extending the franchise to non-citizens in the State, which is in later amendments in my name. Many people who have been living here for a number of years are not citizens of the State. Our citizenship is very expensive. People who are members of the European Union get all the social benefits associated with membership of the EU. However, we have one of the highest citizenship fees in Europe at €2,000 to €3,000 so many of them do not become citizens and do not have the same say in the democratic processes they would otherwise have. I know people from Spain, France and England who have never voted in a referendum campaign because they cannot justify the expense of becoming a citizen to be able to do that.

Then there is extending the franchise to Irish citizens who are resident outside the State. It comes later. What we have recommended is 15 years, which is what is in place in the UK. In European Commission reports the Commission has admonished Ireland for denying the franchise to citizens who are living abroad. It argues that it should be extended because of the right to free movement, and that even if somebody is living outside the State for more than 15 years, the person should have the right to vote where the person is ordinarily resident.

The first part of the amendment is concerned with opinion polls, voter education with regard to opinion polls and a framework for broadcast election debates, including a regulatory framework to secure fairness and impartiality. This comes out of the debate we had in 2020 when a big head of steam was built up about denying Sinn Féin a platform in the political party debates during the general election. This would remove it out of the casualness, as it were, that currently exists and the electoral commission would draw up a framework for who is and is not included. To do that would be a good step because we saw it become a political issue, and that issue actually moved the polls in the last general election. The amendment would give the commission the responsibility to have a look at that and to develop a framework for both opinion polls and election debates, because political parties, RTÉ or independent media outlets doing that can significantly impact the outcome of a general election. We want to put that to an impartial body.