Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Seanadóir Darragh O'Brien. Go n-éirí leis. Ba mhaith liom freisin comhghairdeas a chur in iúl dóibh siúd a fuair suíochán sa Dáil an uair seo. There is nothing ignoble about aspiring to being in the Dáil if one is a Member of the Seanad although certain members of the public may feel the aspiration to get elected to the Dáil from the Seanad represents some kind of indictment of the latter. That view reflects widespread ignorance of the different powers of State and government. We have a Judiciary, Executive and Legislature. It is quite clear that anybody who aspires to being a member of the Executive needs to be, in all but very exceptional circumstances, a Member of the Dáil. That does not detract from the very important role the Oireachtas must play. It is really time that we asserted the importance of the Legislature in the Irish political system.

I feel very strongly that the real test of the incoming Taoiseach's commitment to political reform will entail two issues. First, having promised to abolish the Seanad, what will he do when it comes to appointing his 11 nominees? Will they be people who will take seats for his party at the next election or will they be the types of people who will restore the faith of the public in the Oireachtas? I refer to people of the calibre of Brian Friel, Gordon Wilson and others who graced the Seanad in the past. Those are the kinds of people a reforming Taoiseach should think of putting into the Seanad.

The second issue concerns whether the new Taoiseach will let the tail wag the dog. Fine Gael got an excellent result in this election, partly because it returned to its Christian Democrat roots. Guarantees were given on the importance of maintaining best maternal care for mothers while vindicating the duty of care to a baby in pregnancy. We must not have any backsliding on those commitments simply because of the aspirations of a liberal minority party in government. It will reflect badly on the respect for the public if there is backsliding on those commitments.

I endorse what Senator Quinn had to say on the fact that the Seanad could be sitting. If Senator O'Malley is correct about the need for Senators to get re-elected, why did we not sit during the general election campaign? Senator Harris quoted Yeats whereas I am reminded of Hamlet: "Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, looking before and after, gave us not that capability and godlike reason to fust in us unused." We have allowed our capability and God-like reason to fust in us unused instead of having important debates in the House and restoring people's faith in the Oireachtas.