Asking young people about the age of consent is an obvious and popular move, but why draw the line there, asks Michael McLoughlin
The 23 local members of Youth Work Ireland will probably agree it can often be hard to co-ordinate and generate interest in every national policy initiative that comes around. This is why it was encouraging to see the massive response we received from around the country to the announcement that Minister for Children Brian Lenihan was to consult teenagers around the issue of the age of consent.
Countless initiatives revolving around consulting, and more importantly involving young people, were brought to my attention from every corner of the land - youth clubs, projects, drop-in centres, youth forums, surveys and many more. While structuring the precise nature of this initiative may be tricky, it is certainly one which is popular and has struck an instant response from those who work with this age group.
Anybody watching the unfolding of the crisis in relation to statutory rape would have been struck by the absence of young voices in the various debates and phone-ins, yet it is young people who will be affected most by the outcome of any deliberations in this area. It should not of course be expected that they will speak with one single voice on a complex issue.
Yet at the most basic level Ireland is a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Article 12, which calls on states to give children and young people "the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child". Partially as a result of this, the National Children's Strategy dedicates one of its three pillars to giving young people a voice. While both of these commitments are welcome, like many others from the Government their translation into reality is often weak.
Once a year, Dáil na nÓg gives a platform to young people to have a say on a number of relevant issues. As a body involved in the organisation of this event, we must realise what a step forward this is along with the local Comhairle na nÓg associated with it. However, if this is such a model why is there a need for the latest initiative at all? Clearly having a somewhat ceremonial high profile event once a year leaves something to be desired.
The very title Dáil (both today and in history) suggests the shadow of a legislative assembly representing the youth population. Any politician or youth worker would realise the difficulty of such a model. Coiste na dTeachtaí, elected on annual basis, should of course be central to this consultation exercise.
In practice any real exercise of involving young people must engage with and answer the same fundamental questions about power structures in society at large. We can be sure that lobbyists, interest groups and others vying for the Government's ear would not settle for a once-a-year shindig and with some occasional consultation.
Politicians and others exercise power on an ongoing basis with an army of civil servants and advisers; pitching once-off youth events against this is scarcely a fair match. Indeed it could be argued that real power does not even lie with the Dáil at all today, given the dominance of the Government and a small number of Ministers. Similarly the media has a huge influence on the agenda of politics, not to mention business and other pressure groups. So do we really need to be encouraging young people to ape structures which at best are dated?
The truth is young people should be central to all decisions which affect them and their voices should be heard across the board as often as possible in an unmediated way. It is our view that this is perfectly feasible and would be a shot in the arm to the process of government and policy formulation. The once-off initiatives stand out merely because there is absolutely nothing else going on.
But will young people be able for such responsibility? Surely they will make stupid and ill-informed decisions? The same arguments were of course put about giving women the vote and extending the voting age. I had the pleasure of recently accompanying a group of young people under the auspices of the Children's Rights Alliance to meet the UN committee on the rights of the child. While escorting such a group to Geneva naturally involved a bit of effort and time, the only occasion when I had no work to do was when the young people were speaking directly to the committee about their lives - after all who knew this story better than they did?
Involving young people in decisions should not just be in sensitive or controversial areas; the day-to-day issues are just as important. Education is an obvious area where student councils mark only the start of establishing young people as partners with teachers and parents. Public transport, policing, housing, taxation - why draw the line? A real say in society and full inclusion in decision-making will only come about with the extension of the franchise age to 16.
Michael McLoughlin is director of central services with Youth Work Ireland and a board member of the Children's Rights Alliance