Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I join the Deputy in expressing my sympathy and that of the Government to the families and friends of Paul, Kenny and Shane Bolger, the three brothers from Passage East, County Waterford who lost their lives so tragically in a fishing trip off the south-east coast. We all share the sense of loss felt by their families, friends, the local community and the entire fishing and maritime community in the country who have always had a great sense of solidarity and grief on occasions such as this.

Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív will recall that referendum commissions have expressed the view on a number of occasions that they would like to have more time to prepare for referendums. That is the reason the Government has decided at this early stage to appoint Judge Elizabeth Dunne to chair the Referendum Commission. I am interested to hear the Deputy speak on this subject because he has a bit of form on it. I recall that he announced publicly that he had voted against the Lisbon treaty in the first referendum on it. He was then prevailed upon by his Government colleagues to come round on the second occasion; therefore, he knows a bit about the complexities of a referendum campaign.

The proposal to abolish the Seanad is a Government proposal in the programme for Government. The abolition of the Seanad was part of the election manifestos of the two Government parties prior to the last general election and the intention is to proceed with it. The legislation to give effect to the proposal is before the Dáil and the debate on it will commence shortly. There will be plenty of opportunities to debate it in both the Dáil and the Seanad. Both Government parties will support the proposal in the Dáil and the Seanad and will make the case for it in the event of the Dáil and the Seanad adopting the legislation and proceeding with the referendum.

The Labour Party published a document prior to the last general election which set out the rationale for why a small state such as Ireland should have one parliamentary body. The case being made is that a state with 4.6 million people should have one parliamentary body, which should be the Dáil. The Dáil should have its powers increased and enhanced to do its job more effectively. That is why we have been advancing reform measures such as increasing the amount of sittings of the Dáil, providing opportunities for the introduction of Private Members' legislation, the enhancement of the work of the committees, the introduction of legislation to empower the Oireachtas to conduct inquiries, the strengthening of the Freedom of Information legislation and the introduction of whistleblowers legislation. All of these measures are aimed at reforming our parliamentary process. I hope that on this occasion Fianna Fáil will support the efforts the Government is making to ensure we will have a modern, efficient and reformed Parliament.

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