I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to take No. 12 before No. 1. No. 12 is the Electoral (Amendment) (Voting Age) Bill 2026, which is straightforward legislation that seeks to reduce the voting age from 18 to 16 for local and European elections. There has been a debate going on for years about those aged 16 and 17 who contribute to our society and pay tax when they are out working, whether they start in transition year, go into apprenticeships or work on family farms. If they are paying taxes and contributing to our society should they not have a choice in who represents them? Should they not have a vote for their representatives on the ground whom they can contact? Should they not have a say on who represents them?

By extending the voting age to those aged 16 and 17, we would not simply be giving young people a vote but we would also be encouraging candidates for political parties to engage with them, listen to their concerns and address the issues they face, whether on education, access to apprenticeships, youth services or public transport. There are so many issues. Sometimes those starting college are aged 16 or 17, and they feel they do not have the same rights because they do not have the vote and they do not have a say in who is representing them. In a time when democracy is so important in this country, it would bring in this younger cohort to show them what democracy is all about and bring into our schools education to show them how important it is to be involved in democracy in this country.

We bring up many issues in this House and the other House every day. There is a bit of a disconnect when it comes to our youth as they do not always connect one with the other and they do not engage. My colleague spoke about what is happening in Belfast. If people knew how to engage with their representatives we might not have this level of what sometimes happens on the streets in this country. A lot of the time we see on the streets much younger people who have not been involved and have not had an education on how to understand how the political system works, how it can work and how we can strengthen it and bring about the changes needed for security and safety. It is about engaging with young people. They contribute to our society so why not give them the chance to vote and have a say in who represents them?

I raise the appalling new figures that have been released by Greyhound Racing Ireland revealing that 63% of the racing greyhounds born in 2021 and 2022 that have been retired from the track are already dead. To break this down, the figures provided to the Minister for agriculture show that, as of April this year, 57% of the greyhounds born in 2021 that remain in this country but are no longer racing are dead. That is a total of 3,300 dogs. The death rate is even higher for 2022. A staggering 74% of the racing greyhounds born in that year that remain here and have been retired from the track are dead. That is a total of another 2,666 animals. None of those dogs would yet have had gone beyond five and a half years of age and the youngest was three and a half years of age.

These figures reaffirm what we already know all too well. This is an incredibly cruel industry in which the widespread killing of dogs remains endemic and raises serious animal welfare concerns. Contrary to what we have been told by the industry, which is that the welfare of racing greyhounds is its main priority and that standards are improving, these figures reveal that the mass killing of unwanted racing greyhounds continues at the same rate exposed in the 2019 "RTÉ Investigates" documentary "Greyhounds Running for their Lives". After that documentary and the fallout that came with it, Greyhound Racing Ireland committed to bringing in a traceability system to ensure greater accountability for the welfare of racing animals. However, the system has only served to further expose and not solve the welfare crisis. It is not credible for the industry to claim that it prioritises greyhound welfare when in addition to thousands of dogs killed each year because they are no longer considered to be profitable, hundreds more suffer life-changing injuries or are killed while racing, with common injuries on the tracks including broken legs, crushed vertebrae and dislocated wrists.

During the recent hot spell, we again heard industry claims that it valued animals' welfare ring hollow. While veterinarians and welfare organisations were urging dog owners not to walk their animals in the heat, greyhound racing went ahead in Tralee despite soaring temperatures that reportedly reached 27°C. This constitutes yet another example of the systemic maltreatment suffered by animals in this industry.

Given the evidence of systematic mistreatment of dogs within the greyhound industry, we must ask ourselves why Irish taxpayers' money to the tune of nearly €20 million a year is being used to prop up a declining and ethically unjustifiable industry that sees thousands of dogs being killed every year. The industry does not enjoy widespread public support. It is reliant on Government funds to survive and I do not believe the State should be complicit in these egregious and systematic breaches of animal welfare. We must see an end to public funding for this deeply cruel practice and I would very much like to have a debate on the issue.