Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the people who drafted the document, who came forward with some very positive proposals. I have already made my views known on the issue and the need for us in the Seanad to be proactive in monitoring what is coming through from Europe. I previously proposed that two days a month should be set aside to deal with European regulations and directives. It is great that we have an eight-week period to discuss documents after they are drafted but it would be far better for us to be involved at an earlier stage in order that we could give our views then rather than when the process has been completed. We must be able to monitor what is going on in Europe.

On the biggest complaint about Europe is that there is a disconnect between what is happening there compared to what happens at home, particularly regarding how decisions are made. The two best examples I remember relate to fishing and mussel seed harvesting in Cromane in Kerry. In that case the process had to stop because of an EU regulation which had been in place for some time. The work that should have been done in order to allow the harvesting to continue was not done because people were not aware of the regulation. The Government of the time got over ¤5 million in grant aid to carry out the various studies but it was never used and was returned to Europe. Another significant issue in the west is turf cutting. A regulation was in place for a long period before somebody decided that it needed to be followed through, and decisions were taken at that stage. The directive had been in place for a while at this stage. We should be able to use the Seanad to monitor European regulations at an early stage of gestation.

It is important that we consider how we do our business. We must reflect on working together rather than separately, although I may not have the support of everybody on this issue. I learned from my time in Brussels that all parties can sit around a table to try to work out a compromise taking on board the views of a maximum number of people. We must do more of that. Considering the draft legislation since the change of Government, some 149 Bills have been published, with 79 of those from the Government and 64 passed into law. There have been 70 Bills from people in Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and Independents. The question arises of how many legislators we have in the 226 Oireachtas Members. Is the number restricted to the Ministers or may all 226 Members become legislators? We are so reliant on Departments to decide on legislation that input from people other than Ministers in both Houses is being reduced. That is something we must take on board in considering the reform issue.

The decision has been made by the Fine Gael leader and the Taoiseach that there will be a referendum and we will stick by that decision. We must have a detailed and honest debate about a third option. If the proposal to abolish the Seanad is rejected by the electorate, which has the final say, we should have serious consideration of reform. We must ensure that a full debate can take place, setting out the nature of possible reform. It should not just be about the number of Members or how we do business but how Members are elected. We should focus on that element, as the current structure of election is outdated and should be reviewed.

I welcome this debate and the discussion document. I hope it will be just one of many discussion documents that will be made available before the referendum is held.