Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

It is utterly strange that graduates of different institutions are considered to have equivalent qualifications when it comes to securing employment but not in respect of qualifying to vote in Seanad elections. There is no reason a decision cannot be made to implement change in this regard.

Has the Minister or the all-party committee considered the increasingly pronounced rural bias in terms of the Seanad election given the population of the east coast is continually increasing?

The electors to the Seanad are primarily members of local authorities but their numbers do not increase proportionately with the growth in the population of local authority areas. That bias will make the Seanad even more remote from people. Is that matter being considered by the Minister?

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