Vincent P Martin (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I would respond to that by pointing out that a young person can work full-time at 15, change their name when they are 16, drive a car, join the Army with parental consent and do many other things but they cannot vote. Allowing 16-year-olds to vote make sense.

Interestingly, lowering the voter eligibility age to 16 is part of the manifesto of Keir Starmer of the Labour Party, which is expected to come to power in Britain next year. It has often been said over recent years that the current generation of young people will be the first generation in recent decades to be less well off than their parents. One practical way of avoiding this unwelcome scenario would be to provide them with empowering education on how society actually works and how to change it for the better. If the current generation of political thinkers wants to mitigate the worst excesses of the Internet, computer games and many other excesses that young people are dealing with, we need to provide our young people with practical guidance on how society works. Only then is it more likely that we can say that the next generation of social leaders will be more informed and will be drawing from a wider, deeper pool of engaged and concerned citizens.

Regarding Senator McDowell's genuine concerns, I would draw his attention to the fact that these changes have been overwhelmingly positive in the countries where the voting age was reduced. One study, which members may or may not be aware of, looked at what effects the lowering of the voting age to 16 in 2014 had on voting habits in the 2021 Scottish parliamentary elections. It found that younger first-time voters in Scotland retain a habit of voting in elections and participated in greater numbers than older first-time voters. Those who were able to vote as a 16-year-old or 17-year-old were more likely to continue voting into their 20s. For the cohort who voted at 16 and 17, the authors also found that socioeconomic turnout inequalities were reduced and engagement in non-electoral politics was increased.