Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House again today. I also welcome the people in the Public Gallery. They are folks from the NYCI, Wexford Comhairle na nÓg and a comrade of mine, James Stokes, a Sinn Féin candidate in Newbridge in County Kildare, who is 18 years of age and has come to the Seanad to witness this debate here today.

This is a very interesting debate, which we have had many times here in this House. To be honest, I am somewhat exhausted discussing at length the merits of lowering the voting age to 16. We have said here time and again that Sinn Féin wants to lower the voting age to 16. We support this. The proposers of this Bill, Senators Malcolm Byrne, Fitzpatrick and McGreehan, do not need to convince us. It is clear that they need to convince their own party, Fine Gael and their Government colleagues. I feel like I will be dead before Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael lower the voting age to 16. I wonder if this is just a performative House. Is this just a talking shop? We have discussed this since 2016. We have had motions to delay my own legislation on two occasions. Sinn Féin basically held up the electoral reform Bill back in June to talk about elements we could insert into that Bill that would seek to lower the voting age to 16. This has never moved to the successful implementation or a plan for implementation. There are always excuses. Ministers say they will set up the Electoral Commission and it will advise them, or they will farm it out to a constitutional convention or citizens' assembly, whatever it is at the time. They say the Electoral Commission will do it, or that we need to empower young people and give them the knowledge they need. All of these excuses have been made over and over again and never have we moved to the successful implementation of voting rights for 16- and 17-year-olds. I am a bit cynical at this point. I hope this Bill has been proposed and put forward in good faith. I am particularly exhausted by this idea that we are not ready yet, that the education is not there or whatever. Senator Cummins alluded to that. CSPE being removed as an exam subject at junior cycle is an example of going the opposite way and not doing what we need.

The motion to delay from a Fianna Fáil Leader of the House on a Fianna Fáil Bill is extraordinary. I have not seen that in my time in this House. We will not support the motion to delay this Bill. We support this Bill. We support this Fianna Fáil Bill. We have a Bill on the Order Paper too. On 12 July 2016 it was moved on First Stage and there was a motion to delay for one year. I brought it back in on 29 March 2017. On 21 March 2018, Fianna Fáil tabled a motion to put a delay on that. As I mentioned, there was the electoral reform Bill in June 2023. We are insulting the intelligence of young people, in a way. That is all I have to say about this. I want to support this Bill and work with all of the Senators who support it. I will do that but I do not want this House to be performative or a talking shop either.