Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Ellis for sharing time. The Seanad, like any institution, can be improved and changed. However, we must recognise also that its contribution to legislation and public debate on matters of national importance has been second to none. A substantial amount of legislation has been introduced in the Seanad. Various Ministers have said to me on different occasions that they prefer bringing legislation to this House because it is more likely to meet with an objective, impartial and incisive debate. That is less likely in the other House because of the greater tendency for an intrusion of partisan politics into areas where it is unnecessary.

We should not underplay the role of this House. Now is an opportune time for people to denigrate politics and its various institutions. However, as Senator O'Toole stated, we have seen how such attitudes in the past led to serious consequences for Europe. Playing that particular game is the last route we should take. Those in the media who are playing that game may well live to regret it if the entire system is undermined. That is not to say that there is no need to deal with the following issues. It was suggested that we should move partially to a list system. How will people get their names on the list? My experience in other jurisdictions is that someone at the top of the party decides who will be on the list. Perhaps someone can explain to me how that is more democratic than a system where locally elected representatives, with a mandate from people within the constituency, exercise their franchise in electing people to the Upper House of Parliament. I need to be convinced that there is democratic underpinning of the list system and I have difficulty seeing how it would operate in practice. That is an important consideration.

There may be a need to examine the necessity of the vocational system. A number of Members have alluded to this. Perhaps this should be considered according to the constituencies of the European Parliament rather than the vocational system but there is merit in the vocational panels. This could be examined.

I agree with the extension of the university panel to all third level institutions. There might be merit in extending this to all third level institutions on the island. With regard to the Taoiseach's nominees, there is a need to have a built-in majority for the Government of whatever hue so that legislation can be passed smoothly. An omission in our original report should be addressed. There should be reasonable representation from Northern Ireland. Some of the problems we face there exist because, whilst the peace process has been bedded down over the past ten years and no one wants to see any return to what happened for 30 years, we want to see more North-South involvement. A mistake was made in changing the North-South bodies proposed to the six bodies for North-South co-operation under the agreement. We now have North-South bodies that do not register on the public psyche. By having reasonable representation of Unionists and Nationalists in this House we could play a pivotal role in the development of understanding and mutual co-operation on this island. The Seanad is ideally placed to do this.