Marie Moloney (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I find it bizarre that we are debating the abolition of the Seanad. Which one of us will say that we should not be here? None of us will do so because, if we believe it, the door is there and we should walk out. Every Member believes he or she is doing a good job and should be here.

When I was a member of Kerry County Council, we could not debate a motion where we had a conflict of interest. We had to leave the council chamber yet here we are, 60 Members debating a referendum in which we all have a conflict of interest. However, a commitment has been given to the people of Ireland that a referendum will be held. I will honour the commitment and I will support the motion to hold a referendum. The people, in their wisdom, will make the final decision.

Much of the debate in recent months has centred on the idea that the House is full of failed Dáil candidates and would-be Deputies. Perhaps there is some truth in that but as someone who aspires to represent the people of my county in public office, I make no apology to anyone seeking election to this House, as I did in 2011. It is perfectly legitimate that someone who has narrowly missed out on a seat in the Dáil seeks election to our second Chamber, not as the second-best option but as an attempt to bring experience and ability to bear in our national Parliament. People who have contested the general election bring with them the experience of the most recent general election campaign and of being a candidate who has spent months talking to, and listen to the views of, the voters. These views can be brought more easily to the floor of this House than the Dáil.

There is also an impression in certain quarters that Senators are part-time politicians. I cannot speak for others in the House but I am anything but a part-time politician. I gave up my employment to take this job and devote myself to politics full-time. If I am not mistaken, I am the only Senator from Kerry who maintains a full-time office outside Leinster House. I also hold weekly clinics all over south Kerry, where I meet my constituents, address their concerns, hear what they say and advocate on their behalf. This influences the contributions I make in this House. When in Leinster House, I devote my energies to my legislative duties and when I am in my constituency, I provide my constituents with a service that is as good as any Deputy.

Members remember the late Michael Moynihan from Kerry South. He contested general election after general election for many years and finally made it into the Seanad, before becoming a Member of the Lower House and a Minister of State. The late Michael Moynihan was one of the best public representatives Kerry South ever had. I put my hand on my heart and say that.

President Michael D. Higgins went through the Seanad, on to the Dáil and became President. President Obama went through Congress and the Senate to become President. I cannot see anything wrong with people seeking election to this House. Although we do not get elected by the members of the public, we get elected by people elected by the public. We bring forward their views.

A notion put forward by those who do not believe the Seanad is worth retaining is that the House has moved a long way from what Éamon de Valera envisaged in the Constitution of 1937 and what it was intended to achieve in the period after the foundation of the State. The aim, in part, was to bring together diverse voices from a variety of sectors and vocations to offer an input into political debate. In many ways, it achieved that objective for many years. Like everything else, institutions evolve and the Seanad has moved away from being the preserve of sectoral interests and has in many ways become a more democratic institution.

We still debate the many issues that hardly ever get a mention on the floor of the Dáil, including equality issues, international issues and minority issues. I recently moved a motion on the issue of domestic violence on behalf of my Labour colleagues. It is a topic rarely discussed in the Dáil and I urged that domestic violence be included on our Statute Book as a specific criminal offence. I have tabled an amendment with regard to deposit retention to the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill. It will be accepted by the Minister and I am also working on a Bill to bring to the Seanad.

There is need for reform and successive governments have failed to take reform seriously. However, we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If we look closely at the Dáil and the Seanad, there is not much difference except in how we are elected. The Whip system is the same, time constraints are the same and turns to speak are the same, etc. It has been reiterated by speakers in this debate that legislation comes out of the Dáil and needs to be amended in this House. If they do not want us, why does legislation come out of the Lower House in that state? Why are amendments not made before it leaves the House? What will change when we are gone? Will fewer public representatives in the Lower House be able to handle the extra work? If so, why are they not doing it now? What will be the difference?

I have already said that I run a full-time office outside Leinster House. We cannot claim expenses for the office, telephone calls, heating or insurance. I pay for it out of my Seanad salary. If the Taoiseach is serious about saving money, why can Deputies not receive a cut in pay to the same amount as Senators and provide for their offices out of that?

I am doing that and if I can do that, they can. They have two assistants working for them: a parliamentary assistant and a secretary. I have one and I still provide the same service. There would be additional savings if the 158 Deputies in the next Dáil had their pay cut to the same level as a Senator. We would not even have to abolish the House to make savings in that case.