Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Regarding Seanad reform, a duplication of the Dáil is not required. There is a better role for a second House. For example, the Seanad could play an important role in the scrutiny of EU legislation and fulfil the greater role of national parliaments envisaged under the Lisbon treaty. In such a scenario, the existing Seanad panels could be replaced by new panels organised along the lines of the directorates of the EU, for example, agriculture, innovation, research, health, etc. Senators could be elected for terms coinciding with the European Commission, with every citizen receiving a vote. A Seanad of this type, along with the new EU affairs super Oireachtas committee included in recently announced Dáil reforms, would be an excellent way of ensuring scrutiny of EU law.

Any meaningful reform of the Seanad must have at its basis that every citizen would have a vote. Anything other would not be a real reform.

I wholeheartedly welcome the initiatives taken on Dáil reform heretofore, but we can go further. The number of Topical Issue debates should be increased to approximately eight. Routinely, 25 to 30 matters are raised every day. We also need to increase the amount of time allocated to ministerial Question Time not just for the Opposition, but for Government backbenchers also. I am lucky enough to have asked two education questions today, but that does not happen often. We could do with more time than one and a half hours per Minister.

We must ensure that the welcome plans announced for the pre-legislative and pre-enactment phases are not watered down in light of the Seanad referendum's result. This would be an excellent reform and would allow for engagement with civil society and interest groups on the preparation of legislation. I hope that there will be no alteration to this proposal.

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