Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Taoiseach has said, it is almost ten months since he wrote to the party leaders on the make-up of the implementation group. He also went on to say, if I got it right, that contact continues with the party leaders about the chair. That is news to me and, by the response of the other leaders in the House, it must be news to them as well. Therefore, it is two years since the Manning report on Seanad reform was published. The Taoiseach has not even agreed who the chair of the implementation group will be. At the time, we welcomed the Government's commitment to the Manning recommendations. It was also about the right to vote in Seanad elections for citizens in the North and the diaspora. That reflects, as the Taoiseach knows, the views of the Constitutional Convention of September 2013. However, like other issues, this is a mark of the paralysis of this Government. Before the Taoiseach leaves office, perhaps he could appoint someone to chair the implementation group on Seanad reform.

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