Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach addressed the Seanad earlier this year on the topic of Seanad reform and suggested that Senators from nationalist and unionist communities in the North should be elected. I note the recent by-election resulted in the election of Senator Ian Marshall, who is from the unionist community. He was elected with the support of Sinn Féin and Fine Gael, and will bring a different perspective to that House. Senator Niall Ó Donnghaile, who is from east Belfast, brings a more nationalist North of Ireland perspective to the situation. Both of those Senators were elected in the bizarre and archaic fashion used for the election of Seanadóirí, which we all recognise as something that needs to change. The Manning report recommended that the franchise be extended to all citizens and the diaspora.

What are we going to do to make that happen? There is no constitutional impediment to doing so, and the Oireachtas can confer the right to register to vote in Seanad elections to both Irish citizens living in the North and to those holding Irish passports and living abroad. Does the Taoiseach support the recommendations of the Manning report to extend the franchise to citizens in the North and to the diaspora, and will he commit to bringing forward some form of legislation to secure that in the time ahead?

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