Paul Bradford (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----will cause him to look kindly on it and its future. Along with his Government colleagues, he should treat seriously the decision of the people last autumn not simply to retain the Seanad but to seek actively to develop it, particularly by having elections to it based on a universal-suffrage arrangement.

I do not have to cover again the ground covered by some of my colleagues but must point out that the Government is considering a number of Bills at this stage. Most Ministers will tell us the next general election will not take place until the spring of 2016, which gives the Government sufficient time to carry out real, meaningful Seanad reform if it is serious about it. The next time we will be debating Seanad politics in this House, I hope it will be as a result of the Minister having taken seriously what the people said last autumn, namely, that they want an updated, modernised Seanad playing a role in the democratic process of the State, with every citizen having an equal vote in Seanad elections, irrespective of what system we devise.

There is a technical Bill before us today to allow the by-election. Obviously, it will be approved and the by-election will take place. I have been around the Houses long enough to know how by-elections are conducted. With the overwhelming Government majority in both Houses, a candidate representing a Government party will obviously win the seat. There is a Fine Gael vacancy. I am not sure whether the strategy for the seat is part of the revised programme for Government but I presume it will go to the Fine Gael Party. While I am not in a position politically to lecture the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party or its managers, I certainly hope that whoever puts his or her name forward for election to this House will at least have been neutral during the Seanad referendum campaign last autumn. It would be grossly hypocritical if somebody who pronounced opposition to the Seanad last year and went on the record to suggest it should be abolished now sought election thereto.