Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Since the citizens gave the Taoiseach a wallop in the Seanad referendum, there has been the debacle around the Seanad candidate, Mr. John McNulty, and the nomination of him to the board of IMMA which illustrates the Government's attitude to the Seanad, to the arts and to State boards. Today the Taoiseach stated that he would put forward a working party shortly to report back by February. That strikes me as an unworkable date. What does "very shortly" mean? He will ask those involved to have their report ready in less than three months.

The Taoiseach has not dealt with the Constitutional Convention report which called for citizens in the North to have a franchise in presidential elections and I would like to think that the diaspora would be represented in the Seanad as well. My party proposed - I put this forward to the Taoiseach in the past - that 50% of Seanad Members be women and that we ensure a representation of marginalised and minority groups, such as the Traveller community. Can we have some sense of whether the Government has considered any of these proposals my party has put to the Taoiseach and can he give us a firm commitment that this is a serious proposition to have a report back here by February?

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