Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I propose to share time with Senator McGreehan, who is on her way. I want to welcome representatives from the National Youth Council of Ireland, NYCI, and Comhairle na nÓg from Wexford to the Gallery. Indeed, many youth organisations around the country have done a lot of work on the issue of enhancing our democracy and increasing young people's participation in the democratic process. Cuirim fáilte freisin chuig an Aire Stát. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, and I have spoken about this issue previously and I am very grateful for his personal support on the matter.

Ireland has always prided itself on being a vibrant democracy. The fact that we in 1937 were the first country in the world to adopt its constitution by means of a popular vote says something about our emphasis on public participation.We have always looked at ways in which we can strengthen our democracy and involve our citizens, not only in voting but also in our decision-making processes. The citizens' assembly, which was established by the State following votes in both of these Houses, strongly recommended that the voting age be reduced to 16. It has been recommended by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and by the European Parliament. They have all signalled that they support a reduction in the voting age to 16. I strongly welcome the commitment in the programme for Government that the newly established Electoral Commission be asked to look at the issue of reducing the voting age, having learned from the useful experience in Scotland.

This Bill provides for a reduction in the voting age for local and European elections. It would require a constitutional amendment to reduce it in Dáil elections, referendums and presidential elections, but we can provide for the reduction to 16 in local and European elections legislatively, simply by enacting this or similar legislation.

When the European elections take place next June, as they will in the 27 member states across Europe, in four of the member states citizens over the age of 16 will be voting. In Austria, Belgium, Germany and Malta, 16-year-olds will be voting and in Greece those who are 17 years old will be voting in the European elections next June. In addition to those five EU member states, Estonia has granted the right to those aged 16 and above to vote in local elections. In Scotland and Wales, 16-year-olds have been allowed to vote. Indeed, prior to the Brexit referendum there was an active campaign to allow 16-year-olds to vote on the issue of Brexit, a crucial issue that impacted on the future of many young people. It has been much speculated that had the UK allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, the result might have been different from the one we finally saw. In many other democracies, including Argentina and Brazil, 16-year olds have been allowed to vote for quite some time. The Isle of Man, which interestingly was the first place in the world to allow women to vote, has allowed those aged 16 and above to vote for two decades. In the United States, where a presidential election will take place next year, 17-year-olds can vote in many of the primary elections in different states, provided they will have turned 18 by the election the following November. Senators will be aware that there is quite a degree of focus on the age of the candidates at the moment in the United States. While we are debating the minimum age to be able to vote, I discovered that only one country has a maximum age on voting rights: the Vatican. Members of the college of cardinals in the Vatican cannot vote after they turn 80. I am certainly not proposing that we introduce a maximum age. Senator Mullen has plenty of time to run for leadership in the Vatican City state. It is the only place where a maximum age is in place.

Despite all the positive experiences in all the other territories and the fact that all those organisations, including many youth organisations in this country such as the National Youth Council of Ireland, Comhairle na nÓg and the Irish Second-Level Students Union have actively campaigned for it, the question comes down to whether it is right for Ireland and why we should allow 16-year-olds the right to vote. It is clear that at the age of 16, young people have an interest in their communities, country and planet and have the capacity to make informed choices about who should represent them. They are aware of the issues and the structures where they live. On the greatest existential threat we face on this planet, the climate and biodiversity crisis, it is only fair to argue that young people have led much of the discussion and provided real leadership, the example of which many of us who are more mature in years have had to follow. Anyone who has spoken to groups of young people on issues such as mental health, education, community and youth services will say that young people have provided leadership and have a deep and enthusiastic understanding of and experience in those issues.

Voting is habitual. Surveys have regularly found in every democracy that those who use their first vote are much more likely to continue to vote later in life. It is a simple case of vote early and then vote often. It is true. If we can ensure that people vote when they are 16, 18 or whatever age, they are much more likely to continue to vote. It therefore makes sense that we try to encourage people to vote for the first time from an early age. In fact, the studies from Austria, which in 2007 was the first country in the European Union to reduce the voting age to 16 on a wide scale, having reduced it for local elections from 2000, indicate that voters aged 16 to 18 tend to be as informed about the political issues during the elections as those aged 18 to 21, but are more likely to vote. It is interesting that there are higher turnout rates in that cohort. This is probably related - it is hinted at in much of the research - to the fact that they are likely to be living at home, whereas those aged 18 to 21 are more likely to have gone to college or to be in a transitionary period in their lives and are less likely to vote. The evidence also shows that when people start to vote at that age they tend to have higher levels of trust in democratic participation. At a time when trust in some of our democratic and political institutions is often being challenged, it is important we encourage people to vote early. All the evidence from the countries that have reduced the voting age points to that being the case.

One of the significant concerns in my party, and more widely, is that if we allow 16- and 17-year-olds to vote, they will be more easily swayed by their parents, by teachers or by influencers, that they will be more likely to vote for populist slogans or that some fancy TikTok video will encourage young people to vote in a certain way. It is a cynical view. Reducing the voting age - I will come to this - is not the only solution to enhancing young people's participation in democracy, but when young people are informed about the changes happening, they make informed decisions. They look at the evidence. On the crucial question of how we respond to climate change, which is of real importance to young people, if young people look at the Government's record as opposed to the disparate approach of the Opposition, there would be no question but that 16- and 17-year-olds would come out and strongly support the Government parties, as the Opposition has been all over the place on climate change. The challenge is for every political party to be able to sell its message to young people. The evidence from Austria and other countries tends to be that political parties adapt and look at how they can sell their message more effectively to those groups of young people.

As I said, reducing the voting age is not a panacea. Simply reducing it from 18 to 16 will not necessarily solve all our problems around democracy or see lots more young people get involved in politics, which we all want to see. We need to look at the broader context of how to enhance democratic participation. The school system has an important role to play in that. The politics and society subject at leaving certificate level and civic, social and political education, CSPE, at junior certificate level have gone some way towards doing so. In Youthreach and local training initiative, LTI, programmes, there is now much more emphasis on civic participation.Comhairle na nÓg does a fantastic job in encouraging some of that wider participation. We all need to consider the question of our rights and duties as citizens. In particular, there needs to be a debate among young people about what some of those rights and responsibilities are for young citizens. In addition to the electoral commission examining the important issue of reducing the voting age, we need to consider having a national commission on youth citizenship to examine how we can encourage young people to be citizens in society, which would not only include their voting rights, but also their acquisition of other skills.

I appreciate that we are close to the local and European elections. They will take place next June, so it is unlikely that we will be joining the five member states that have reduced voting ages for them. However, there have been clear indications from the Government that this is the direction in which we want to move. I would like the Minister of State to give a clear indication now of the direction that we as a country are going to move in on this issue. We have an obligation not just to signal a reduction in the voting age, but to enhance young people’s participation more generally.