Tony Mulcahy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. When he ran for election for the Seanad, I gave him a number one vote. It was important as the tremendous work he has done over the past two years may not have happened if he had not run for the Seanad.

The idea that a significant amount of money will be saved with the abolition of the Seanad is not true. A figure of €21 million has been knocked around but salaries for the Seanad come to €6 million while Seanad staff will be redeployed. The proposed scrutinisers could cost up to €150,000 a year. Taking on 30 of them will cost €6 million. Arguing that abolishing the Seanad will lead to significant savings is not true.

I would have hoped all Members are valued for their input, as in a business. In business, when one has inputs, one also outfalls. There is a belief that Senators just drink tea for all three days of sittings; that is not true either.

I have no problem voting for the legislation. However, I will not be canvassing for it. For the first time, I will declare how I will vote before I enter the polling booth - I will be voting not to abolish the Seanad. I am in favour of the bicameral system. No one can tell me the Dáil is any worse than the Seanad. I have had plenty of experience of politics for the past 19 years. The role of the Seanad should have been referred to the Convention on the Constitution if we are to be honest in the way we are doing business.

There is a notion that no one in the Seanad said “Stop” when it came to the economic crash. I said it clearly on Clare FM between 2007 and 2009 and when I was mayor of Clare. I could see where the problems were coming up. During that time, I questioned the transfer of €7.8 billion from Irish Life and Permanent to Anglo Irish Bank to bulk up balance sheets in September only to hand it back in November. I will not be lumped into that claim that no one called for a stop.

In my two years as a Senator, I have been able to build up relationships with Ministers. While I may not contribute very often in the Chamber, I certainly work here. I have been involved in getting the International Air Transport Association, IATA, to hold various meetings in Ireland comprising 2,500 representatives from all the airlines. This will allow us access to these people and will assist in developing our overall airline maintenance and composite, as well as tourism, industries. The value of these visits will be approximately €15 million which does not include the added value business that comes after that.

Developments at Shannon Airport happened a lot quicker because I was in the Seanad. I believed we needed one management body for the airport and industrial estate. I have no doubt the airport will now go from strength to strength.

I am also working on two major biomass plants to the value of €180 million, €90 million in Sligo and €90 million in Shannon. It is important we put our personal inputs on the record. No one outside this House has the right to throw around statements like the Seanad is useless and they do nothing. I heard a Labour Deputy claim the Seanad is rotten, an appalling statement. That did a disservice not just to the Seanad but to the body politic.