I commend Deputy Farrelly on bringing forward the Bill and on the work he has put into it. Deputy Farrelly has dedicated a lot of his life to youth work and youth empowerment, and that shines through in the work he brings to Dáil Éireann every week. In relation to the timed amendment, the idea does not carry much weight for me any more. Deputy Byrne referred to John Collison. Following an article by Mr. Collison a couple of weeks ago, we were told that decisions should no longer be made by bureaucrats and that this is a Chamber that should make decisions. Then, the Government tells us that we need to wait for the Electoral Commission to come back to us. Surely, the idea of allowing the Bill to progress to Committee Stage in order that we could look at the evidence and explore the arguments that are being presented from all sides would further empower this Chamber, not to mention empowering the young people we wish to give the vote to. It is strange that we would have Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael politicians one week telling us they no longer want to see faceless bureaucrats making decisions and, at the same time, we are told we need to wait because the Electoral Commission has not finished its work. I can appreciate that this work will look to the evidence that has already been referred to by Members across the Chamber. Surely we can demonstrate the courage of our own convictions and stand for a principle that Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have held for the past two weeks. We are not asking for anything radical. We are simply asking for an extension of the franchise. The argument is always made that those paying tax should have representation, as Deputy Heneghan said. This is more about letting good ideas flow. Let us stand for election, talk to the young people who are impacted by decisions we make in this Chamber and simply say that we trust them to decide whether they are going to vote for us or not. That is simply what this is about. The arguments have been made and have been won. Deputy Murphy had a Bill that was passed. Deputy Malcolm Byrne had a Seanad Bill in 2023 that was timed out for a year. Let us just get on with it. This is not just about young people who pay tax; it is about young people who have ideas. Many of us in this Chamber had the privilege of working with young people, whether in youth work or other areas. I was fortunate in a previous life to work in the Trinity access programme, developing leadership programmes in transition year schools all across Dublin. When I went to schools, I talked to young people about leadership and the leaders they admired, and brought that down to where they see a leadership contribution in their own lives. The conversations that come back are truly incredible. You walk into a school and you come out having learned so much yourself. It is the young people who want to talk about local infrastructure or the care they have to provide to older loved ones. They talk about where they have been failed or assisted.

Sentiment score: 0.18