Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity. It is the ninth year in which I have made similar points. I congratulate the Senators who introduced the motion. It is impossible for me not to agree entirely with the previous speaker because I, too, saw the motion was to be adjusted and understood this was the ninth year in which we have made many of the same points. As Senator Ó Murchú stated, the Committee on Procedure and Privileges may need to reform in regard to how it considers these issues. There is nothing to disagree with in the motion. It does not take from the initiative of the Independent Senators to point out there have been many like it over the years which were stifled. Senator White pointed out it was not the fault of Senators that work has not been done.

In my experience in the Seanad, we have all spoken openly throughout this time on different aspects of legislation and then voted, the Whip having taken a very different line on issues from that of the party or the Government. That is the strength of the Seanad. I shall return to the issue of the Whip presently. It is the political hierarchy within all parties that is to blame for the fact that the Seanad has never been reformed. It is disgraceful in the extreme that the seventh amendment to the Constitution, made in 1979, has never been implemented. We have seen various reports throughout the years and Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party in Government absolutely share the blame for ensuring we have maintained the status quo in this House. They have abused it as merely the safety net for the also rans or the breaking ground for new talent. I am a product of that system in that I contested the general election, was not elected and am back again in the House. That being given, in the eight years since I was elected on the industrial and commercial panel, I have been acutely aware of my vocational responsibility. My background is exclusively in representative work with the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland movement and others, and I always try to reflect that in the legislation.

Over the years, great proposals such as this one that were cost neutral to implement have been becalmed. The hierarchy of the political parties and the Government of the day stifled progress. Therein lies the difficulty. If a meaningful proposal to have a person come to the Seanad is agreed by all Members and goes before the CPP, the Cabinet of the day will not allow it if is politically insensitive. There is no Senator, current or former, who would disagree that is the problem. The whip should not apply in here, there should be a free vote on every issue because we cannot block legislation, only delay it for a period and highlight to the nation that a Bill requires a longer period of reflection.

There are many great proposals on how we could do business better. If the public was truly informed of how well it is being done as it is, they would have more confidence in the political system as a whole. Senator Bacik mentioned the 1,900 amendments to legislation, with one of the higher profile changes being that on discrimination on age. There were many others. The NAMA legislation debate in this House led to several adjustments in the Dáil. The late Brian Lenihan would have acknowledged that. If there is a challenge to us, it is to convince the Government. There is no better man to do that than the Leader of the House and, from working with him, I know he believes in the work of the Seanad and what it can do.

Legislation has just been passed that was initiated in this House, pioneered through the leadership and guidance of Senator Ivana Bacik, although she would acknowledge that it was started by the previous Government. There was not a single media representative here. I do not recall the debate being recorded in any medium of the media. I used to joke that to get on "Oireachtas Report" one had to be gay, a former president of ICTU or a Sunday Independent journalist. That was often not far from the truth, as I am sure other Senators will acknowledge.

If we have a referendum I presume there will be an independent referendum commission that must ensure both sides of the argument are put forward. It would be disingenuous when we come to that stage if the question is merely if we should abolish the Seanad. That would be wrong. There must be a broader debate about the wording of the proposal and what a reformed Seanad could look like. We should look at the work of the Seanad to date.

I have a lot of proposals for Seanad reform. The motion deals specifically with a few that could be easily implemented and I hope the CPP and the intentions of Senators are not stifled by the Cabinet of the day, as so often happened in the past, regardless of who was in government.

I would like to see all public appointments scrutinised by the Seanad so if there is a new head of a semi-State body, he or she would come in here for five or ten minutes and make a presentation, as happens with EU Commissioners in the European Parliament. That would bring people closer to their State agencies. The scrutiny of EU legislation, in my experience, is lip service. One of the positives of the Lisbon treaty was the establishment of an embryonic stage for legislation where it is kicked back to member states to consider and this is the appropriate forum for that. If there is a proposed directive, we should bring in the stakeholders so we then can tell Ministers and MEPs the Irish views on the proposal rather than it being conjured up in the bowels of Government Buildings, with none of us knowing anything about it until we read about it.

We might have more detailed debates on actual proposals. I support this motion and implore the committee to honour it and ensure it is done. Everyone on this side of the House wants to see that. The Seanad has a great future and while I can understand populist statements being made in the thrust of an election campaign, when people play the man and not the ball, I cannot understand why the Taoiseach had to bring a pickaxe to the pitch. We must believe in the potential of this House, the value for money it genuinely offers, however many millions of euro it costs compared with the HSE, which will cost €14.3 billion this year. Will this be better? I have no doubt this will be the best Seanad, I have also no doubt it will not be the last. I will personally campaign vigorously to ensure it is not, in the interests of the Irish people.