Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

As someone who stood several years ago for Seanad election and missed out by less than quarter of a vote - some would say I was lucky, or unlucky, depending on what way one looks at it - I welcome this debate on Seanad reform. The people made up their minds and decided to keep the Seanad last year. No one, however, wants to keep it in its current format. Accordingly, can meaningful reform be introduced within the confines of what is permitted in the Constitution, or will it require greater constitutional reform in a series of measures that can be brought to the people?

As an Oireachtas Member and a university graduate, I have two votes in Seanad elections. In my estimation, it is grossly undemocratic that a person can get a vote on the basis of an academic qualification. It harks back to a measure of which the apartheid regime in South Africa would have been proud, or the Ulster Unionists in the old Stormont assembly. It basically means that because someone has an academic qualification they are in some way better than somebody else. That is repugnant to democracy. I would like to see a referendum that will remove academic qualifications from future Seanad elections. A person with a third level qualification is no better or worse than someone with no qualification whatsoever. It harks back to everything that the State symbolised in the 1930s, namely a copycat measure of the House of Lords when the 1937 Constitution was adopted.

I discussed this issue with Senator Maurice Cummins and Deputy Eoghan Murphy at lunchtime. We agreed that Seanad elections should take place on the same day as the general election. Deputy Shane Ross - like many other Members, he might be happy to return from whence he came - spoke about his concerns about naked patronage and the Taoiseach’s nominees. This could not be further from the truth. If the Taoiseach had gone down the road of naked patronage, the Government would not have the problem it has with its majority in the Seanad now. The Taoiseach did not go down that road. Did he get any credit for not doing so? No. I did not hear any Opposition Members praise the Taoiseach for appointing 11 independent Seanad Members, achieving a gender balance at the same time, and for not appointing cronies. Of course, one never gets credit for doing things right around here.

The Constitution only lays out the names of the Seanad electoral panels. It does not state how they have to be constituted or whether they are required to have fixed numbers, can be ascribed to geographical areas, can use the European Parliament constituencies or can be composed of particular affiliations or age groups. There is nothing to stop this type of Seanad reform. Some Members are of the opinion that allowing councillors only to vote is a bad development. I draw their attention to the Belgian and German Senates, which are elected by regional assemblies. What is wrong with people being indirectly elected by people who are themselves directly elected? In fact, it is probably a truer representation of what happened on the day of the local elections than what happened on the day of the general election. The Opposition parties might wind up gaining from it compared to what they might get if there were Seanad elections on the same day as a general election.

I agree with Deputy Joanna Tuffy that we should not ask what business we can give the Seanad. Under the Constitution, it is a House of the Oireachtas; therefore, it has a legislative responsibility. The Constitution is specific that it cannot initiate money Bills but it can initiate any other legislation it so wishes. Ultimately, such legislation will come back to the Dáil, which is the right process because this is the directly elected forum. Suggesting we need to give the Seanad something to do is demeaning the work that many good Seanad Members have done in the past and do now.

I do not agree with Deputy Shane Ross on the patronage element of Seanad elections.

What is wrong with a Fine Gael councillor voting for a Fine Gael candidate in the Seanad? What is wrong with a Sinn Féin councillor voting for a Sinn Féin candidate? I know we have a different attitude to discipline, if some people drift away and do not vote down the line, but we just have to get over it. Sinn Féin might have a different way of approaching that. From my point of view there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It is indirect democracy. Essentially, the person who puts the ballot paper into the box on the day of the local elections is electing an elector who becomes a member of an electoral college who subsequently elects a Senator. There is nothing wrong with that.

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