John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I share the views of many of the previous speakers with regard to the value of the Seanad. In many cases, the role played by the Seanad is not fully recognised. Between the 1980s and the present, the Seanad addressed issues such as the pro-life and anti-divorce campaigns and stem cell research in a coherent manner, to the benefit of the overall debates.

The most practical proposal is to retain a system that works. Some reforms may be required but the system of five vocational panels, university seats and Taoiseach's nominees, which was voted into being in 1937 by almost 1.2 million people and enacted in 1938, should be retained in full. Parts of the system may need to be tweaked, which implies small changes. These changes may include the number of nominating bodies and university seats. The number of Seanad seats should, however, increase by a minimum of 15, and possibly 20, to reflect the expansion of the Dáil from 122 seats in the 1920s to the present 166.

I am amazed at how certain proposals can be taken seriously, such as the indirect election of 20 Senators and the election of 26 through a national constituency. If Senators are elected by a national constituency, they would not readily accept the constraints preventing them from dealing with financial resolutions or amendments that could frustrate legislation. Most bizarre of all is the proposal that Seanad elections should take place at the same time as local elections. At a practical level, how could the 20 potential Senators from my panel alone meet each individual councillor? Some 100 people will be trying to meet a councillor who is standing for election and does not want to meet any Senators. I do not know how that proposal was made.

The system as it stands is not broken, although it may need to be tweaked. We need to increase our numbers but retain the basic principles of university seats, Taoiseach's nominees and vocational panels.