I spoke in favour of Senator Lynn Ruane and Senator Fintan Warfield's bill to lower the voting age to 16 for local and European Parliament elections. The evidence behind this bill is clear. It is not just that 16 year olds need the opportunity to meaningfully engage with their communities, it is also crucial that young people help to shape the future of their communities and Europe. It is very disappointing that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have blocked this bill for another nine months; meaning that it is likely that many young people will not have the opportunity to vote in the highly important European Parliament elections of 2019.
Unfortunately, not everyone is currently entitled to a vote in Seanad elections. This is something Senator Higgins has worked to change by co-sponsoring a Seanad Reform Bill which would give all citizens over 18 a Seanad vote.
Today, Senator Alice-Mary Higgins and Deputy James Lawless renewed their call for the swift passage of legislation to regulate online political advertising. While welcoming Facebook's decision to stop overseas advertisement on the referendum and Google’s announcement to pause all referendum advertising until after May 25th they believe legislation is urgently needed to ensure proper transparency and regulation of online political advertising.