Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Smith for sharing time, giving me the opportunity to make a short contribution to tonight's debate. John Stuart Mill once said: "A party of order or stability, and a party of progress or reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state of political life." We in Fianna Fáil believe the Seanad needs to be reformed, not abolished. Where is the real reform that was promised or is that being forgotten in the Government's five point plan? The Seanad needs to play a more active role in politics, with a keen focus on what really matters: getting our country back to work.

I strongly believe in the need to change how we do politics in this country, but scrapping the Seanad outright is not the answer. Such a move, in the absence of wider reform of the political system, will undermine democracy rather than enhance it. We need to make politics more transparent and accountable and ensure political decisions are subject to proper challenge. Abolishing the Seanad will do the exact opposite. It will make our system less accountable and less transparent. It will give a Government with a record majority even more control over the political process, which is the last thing people want.

It is very disappointing the Government is pressing ahead with the referendum and has refused to allow the issue to be discussed at the Constitutional Convention. It makes no sense to establish the convention to examine key issues relating to the Constitution and then bypass that body with a major constitutional referendum. Fianna Fáil will strongly campaign against what we believe would be a backward step for democracy in this country. We intend to publish detailed proposals on Seanad reform, changing how Senators are elected and changing how the Seanad does its business. Our plans will aim to bring more challenge and more transparency into our political system rather than undermining democracy as this proposal will do.

The Seanad should be used to bring in talent for ministerial appointment where there is a perceived lack and it should be used to focus on specific skills to tackle our country's problems. In the history of the State only two people have been appointed directly from the Seanad to ministerial office. These were Seán Moylan, who was appointed by the then Taoiseach, Eamon de Valera, and Professor Jim Dooge, appointed by the then Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald.

The Seanad should be used as a tool in the decision-making process. In our parliamentary system the Executive yields absolute power and this needs to be changed. The Seanad needs to be reformed in order that there are further decision-making voices to help aid with our country's ever-changing problems.

Fianna Fáil's upcoming proposals on Seanad reform encompass a holistic vision for change in Irish politics to make it fit for purpose. The Government's slash and burn approach to reform exposes the shallow nature of its short-sighted changes. Behind the Government's box ticking reform exercise there is a complete lack of commitment to tackling the deeper issues that need to be addressed in political life. Four major issues need to be addressed. We need to address accountability shortcomings, such as electing the Ceann Comhairle by secret ballot; allowing the Dáil to control its own agenda; the allocation of committee chairs by the D'Hondt system; and a Civil Service department for the Opposition. We need to address the lack of openness and transparency by having much more than mere reinstatement of freedom of information and the publication of audited accounts of political parties. We need to address failures in how representative politics operates through radical local government reform and the diversion of parliamentary administrative support away from Deputies and to Oireachtas research support services instead. We need to address the continued domination of the Dáil by the Executive.

Contrary to its promises of a democratic revolution the Government has used its unprecedented majority to ruthlessly guillotine Bills, abolish town councils and centralise power further into fewer hands by abolishing the Seanad. The Government with Fine Gael at the helm has decimated town councils, reduced Dáil numbers and wants to abolish the Seanad. It seems that Fine Gael is activating a top-down approach, where decisions are made with no consultation with the relevant stakeholders.

This was an opportunity for the Government to make a real difference in how politics is run, but if I were to give a mark on the Taoiseach's scorecard, it would be "F" for failure. This is not how to reform. Reform is described as making changes to improve. There has been no forward thinking by the Government to improve the running of our political system.

Nor has there been any effort to change or improve it. It is a question of pure and simple abolition.

We are opposed to the abolition of the Seanad because the Government has failed to act on real political reform and is using its abolition as a smokescreen. The Seanad needs to be reformed to play a more meaningful role in providing oversight and scrutiny of the Government and to broaden the representation of life in public debate. The Government is attempting to use stunts such as abolition of the Seanad to mask the lack of joined-up thinking to focus on problems with the institutions of the State.

Any real changes to the Seanad must address the following key areas: legislation, including a formal system of public consultation to be put in place in the Seanad to allow for consultation with interested groups and individuals early in the legislative process; European Union affairs, with the Seanad being given a new role in EU affairs; public policy, with the Seanad assuming the role of principal policy reviewer in the Houses of the Oireachtas; senior public appointments, with the Seanad being assigned responsibility for the scrutiny of senior public appointments; and a right of attendance at Cabinet, with the next Leader of the Seanad having the right to attend Cabinet with the status of either a Minister or Minister of State.

The reformed Seanad should have 65 Members, of whom 32 should be directly elected, 20 indirectly elected and 12 nominated by the Taoiseach of the day. A total of 26 Members should be elected directly to a national constituency under a proportional representation list system and six should be elected from a national higher education constituency under proportional representation by single transferable vote. Indirect elections should be made from councillors, Deputies and Senators. The direct elections should be held on the same day as local and European elections, while indirect elections should occur 90 days after a general election. The Taoiseach's nominees should be drawn from the Irish diaspora, the immigrant community, under-represented groups in society and the two traditions in Northern Ireland.

If the Seanad is abolished, it would take away another level of democracy. The people need to have a voice and both the Dáil and Seanad provide this in a bicameral arrangement. The Seanad has given us great minds, voices and people who want to represent the people. Overall reform is needed but no alternatives have been put in place under this proposal. Why not give a number of options to the people? The Taoiseach should listen to his backbenchers. They are bemused and confused by the whole situation and there has been no forward thinking, planning or solutions with regard to the issue of Seanad reform.

The abolition of the Seanad will not only affect democracy, it is a direct attack against democracy. We need to offer alternatives to abolition. Potentially, the Seanad could be used as a think tank, offering solutions and ideas to various Departments.

As mentioned, the election of Senators is archaic and needs to change. With a move towards increased democracy, the people's opinions will matter and the people will have a chance to say how they want democracy to continue in Ireland. Although Fine Gael and the Labour Party have an overwhelming majority in this House, we will fight tooth and nail to reform the Seanad and to be a progressive voice for the people.

Several broken promises have emerged since Fine Gael and the Labour Party have taken power. One example relates to the appointments to State boards. During the general election, the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, promised to end political cronyism. He said that in the previous 13 years the politics of the country had been dominated by the politics of cronyism and that for the previous 13 years the Government had been run by a small group of insiders, so-called friends of Fianna Fáil. He said that one of his ambitions was to put a sense of trust back into politics because it was a noble profession and should be seen as such. Prior to the election, Fine Gael pledged to replace the membership of all boards within six months of taking office. The Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Deputy Leo Varadkar, said in January 2011 that board members "will be asked to resign within six months by Fine Gael if we form the next government". The Labour Party pre-budget submission last year stated that any programme should include "Reform of the system of appointments to state boards to ensure that the process is transparent and that those appointed have the requisite knowledge and skills". The programme for Government committed to halving the size of the Department of the Taoiseach. However, since last year the Department appears to be the only one growing in size, with additional staff in the Department to monitor the implementation of the programme for Government, additional staff from the EU division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, while more staff are expected from Enterprise Ireland to oversee the implementation of Action Plan for Jobs.

See this speech in context