David Norris (Independent)

Yes – historically. The issues to which I have referred need to be addressed. I agree there is no argument against extending the university panels. I have previously suggested that Dublin City University and Dublin Institute of Technology should be included in the Trinity College Dublin panel and that the NUI panel should also be extended to include other relevant institutions. That would preserve the trite difference between them in so far as Trinity College has traditionally been a Dublin centred constituency and the NUI has been a somewhat more broadly based constituency. If they were all rolled into one mega-constituency of six seats and graduates of all third level institutions are enfranchised, that would involve an electorate of at least 500,000. In practical terms, how would one electioneer in that situation? Even now, there is an electorate of about 40,000 in my constituency and 120,000 in the NUI. It is very difficult to maintain contact with one's electorate, particularly in view of the extent to which people are dispersed. It is dangerous for representatives to be too far removed from their roots. I welcome the suggestion of coinciding the dates of elections.

My views are not as extreme as they once were. I sometimes described this House as a retirement home for disabled politicians. However, it can be extremely useful to have the benefit of the wisdom and experience of those who have served in Cabinet. The present Leader of the House, who has had a very distinguished career, is a classic example. The House will benefit from her presence.

I agree with the mechanism brought forward by Senator O'Toole in relation to the Oireachtas sub-panels, whereby 50% of the places would be filled by the more partisan vote of county councils rather than the less enfranchised members of the nominating bodies. As I have said repeatedly, the system in relation to the university seats works reasonably well because the ordinary members of the nominating bodies are enfranchised. I recall an occasion when the president of the Royal Irish Academy was nominated by the academy but did not receive a single vote. The seat was taken by a person whose claim to fame on the Cultural Panel was that he was a modest exponent of the saxophone. Such situations hold the system up to ridicule, as do the electioneering practices in which candidates have to engage.