First, I welcome the guests in the Gallery, particularly Councillor Ciara O'Connor, our Labour councillor from Cork, and Ella Horgan. Both of them work with me. I thank them for all the work that they do.

I also welcome Jayden Browne from Cork city. It is his 16th birthday today. I want to wish him a very happy birthday. He is a fantastic member of the community in Cork. He is on transition year work experience. He is from Greenmount in Cork city and he attends Coláiste Éamann Rís in Deerpark. He is on the student council there. He is getting a Garda youth award in Cork city for community safety next week. I congratulate him on that.

That brings me to the issue I want to raise, which is votes at 16. There are many 16-year-olds like Jayden who are very active participants in communities across the country and who are very politically engaged. They have access to lots of information through civic and political courses in school, and online. We need to follow the lead of other jurisdictions like Austria, Scotland, many German states and the Isle of Man. Jersey and Guernsey, too, have extended the franchise to vote at 16. We need to look at that here.

A 16-year-old can seek employment, be liable for tax and get a licence to drive a tractor in some cases, so why can they not be eligible to vote as well? We really need to increase voter participation and turnout. I know it is Jayden's first time in Leinster House today but I think he will be in Leinster House many times in the future, maybe as an elected representative as well. Happy birthday again to Jayden.

The Senator is buying the birthday cake.

We had a cake and we will have a second.

You can never have enough cake. I call Senator Martin Conway