Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

It is revenge for two Government defeats in the Seanad this morning. It was a good jolt to remind the Government that this country is a democracy and run by the people and not as my colleague, Senator Marc MacSharry said, by 15 people around the Cabinet table. I urge the Leader to get his colleagues into the Chamber to offer their views no matter whether they are for or against the motion. Let us not forget that the motion tabled is to decide if Seanad reform should be discussed at the constitutional convention and is not about Senators being for or against the Seanad. The former is a reasonable discussion to hold because the constitutional convention is shambolic. It is a sham. As has been said, it will reduce the voting age and decrease the presidential term. They are not matters for debate in which the public needs to be involved. They are matters that public representatives can decide within Parliament and then hold a referendum if needed. There are far more serious constitutional issues affecting the country that can and should be dealt with by a constitutional convention and they include the Seanad.

The reality is that the Government wants to keep full control of what happens at the constitutional convention. It wants full control of the pace of reform and to slow it down. The Government members came to power as reformists and talked about the abolition of the use of the guillotine in debates. We have had more guillotines under the Senator's leadership than ever before.