John Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have to follow the thought-provoking contribution of my esteemed colleague Senator McDowell. I welcome the Minister of State back to the House. I welcome our friends from Comhairle na nÓg in Wexford, guests of Senator Byrne, and representatives from the National Youth Council. This is thought-provoking legislation. It is one on which I have an open mind. I probably do not look as young as when I entered politics at the age of 21, but being 36 now and having spent nearly 15 years in politics, youth participation in politics is something that has always been very close to my heart.

I also come from an education background and I know the civic, social and political education, CSPE, junior certificate course and politics in society as a leaving certificate subject were referenced in a previous contribution. It was a retrograde step to remove the examination for CSPE that was done as part of the junior cycle curriculum changes and I expressed those views at the time, but it is a really welcome move that we now have a leaving certificate subject in this area because it fosters and encourages young people who have an interest in politics and society to take that interest, explore it in greater depth, and form their own opinions. This is what any subject in school should be about.

Obviously, the programme for Government commits to research being undertaken in this space and for the views formed by evidence from other countries to be factored into that. Also in the programme for Government was the establishment of the Electoral Commission, which is now on a statutory footing and is tasked with the body of research which will go into this. There was research done by one of the Scottish universities, the University of Edinburgh perhaps, that emphasised what Senator Byrne referenced, that if young people participated in the democratic process of voting at an earlier age, there was a greater likelihood of them continuing that throughout their lifetime. I am sure research such as this will be factored into consideration by the Electoral Commission. On the flip side, as Senator McDowell rightly said, is there an element of us putting the cart before the horse when we look at what happened with the referendum on the age at which somebody could stand for the presidential election being defeated in a referendum by quite a sizeable margin? There is not a clear set of definitive answers to this question.

As a young person, and I still consider myself a young person, I can see both the pros and perhaps some of the cons as well. That is why we need to have that wider body of research done by an independent statutory agency, which we have now established in the Electoral Commission, and it is very important that the views of young people are taken on board in that process. It cannot be done by older people as a top-down or desktop exercise here and just looking at pieces of research. There has to be full engagement with all of the youth organisations in any process that will be undertaken in this space because it is extremely important, regardless of the age of consent, that we have participation in the voting process. Not enough people take part in the voting process. I know we are trying to do a body of work on modernising the register but far too few people participate when it comes to voting.

I wish the Minister of State well in his role in this area. It is an exciting time with the modernisation of that electoral system. The pre-registration of 16- and 17-year-olds is something that was debated heavily during the Electoral Reform Act 2022 that was brought through. It is a really welcome move because there were many people who missed out. They turned 18 and missed out on voting because they could not be registered in time. It is a welcome move and I look forward to that body of work being completed by the Electoral Commission.