Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank Sinn Féin for sharing its time and I compliment it on this motion. Last October, when the people refused the Government's call to abolish the Seanad, the Taoiseach said, "I am up for engaging with leaders in the Dáil and the Seanad and we will see what is the best way of putting in place a process that will lead to a more effective Seanad." To date, no reform has occurred. The rules are the same as they were and the culture has become a great deal worse.

I have in my hand a nomination paper for use by Members of the Oireachtas at Seanad by-elections. It states, "I, the undersigned, being a Member of the Oireachtas, declare that the said person is qualified for the said panel by reason of the qualifications hereinafter set forth." The qualifications listed for John McNulty in this case were businessman and board member of the Irish Museum of Modern Art. In this case the undersigned Member of the Oireachtas is the Taoiseach. Those were the Taoiseach's words and it is the Taoiseach's signature on this paper. In any other country a prime minister, president or chancellor would immediately resign if it was discovered that the said person had just been appointed to that board.

As a voter in this by-election and a Member of the Irish Parliament, when the ballot paper came through my letter box I felt I was being deliberately and cynically misled. What happens here is we are given the message that this is just business as usual. A total of 84 Members of the Oireachtas still voted for the candidate. There is no reform here.

Pat Leahy said recently that one can judge the sincerity of real political reform in Ireland by whether it devolves power and decision making. Deputy Eoghan Murphy of Fine Gael proposed that the whip system be relaxed at times, but the Taoiseach said this could not be done because it would undermine international confidence, as international investors might think the Government could collapse at any time. Let us think about this. The Taoiseach is saying that elected Members of this Parliament should not be allowed to think for themselves because foreign investors might stop buying our golf courses. That is the reason government Deputies are not allowed to think for themselves on any vote. The only thing the Government is thinking of reforming in the Seanad is the election of the six Independent Senators. What a shock.

The motion before the House is very similar to the Seanad Reform Bill proposed by Senators Zappone and Quinn. The Bill would give emigrant Irish citizens the right to vote in the Seanad elections. It would require gender balance in the Seanad and would extend the elections for the university panels. It would allow candidates to appear on the ballot paper as a result of public nomination and would allow the public, via petition, to put matters before the Seanad for debate. It would give the Seanad powers to scrutinise ministerial appointments to public bodies. This is how reform sounds and looks. The only question is whether this Government has any intention or ability to achieve any of that. I think not.

See this speech in context