Pat O'Neill (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Crown and I do not believe the Seanad should be blamed for what happened or used as a fall guy to try to make politics look fair again. However, I cannot support the Bill this evening. I call on Senator Crown to consider sections of the Bill. Section 5 deals with universities and the election of six Senators. Other people have referred to this as well. Instead of two bodies electing three Senators he proposes three bodies electing two Senators. The Central Statistics Office has stated that there are 739,992 people with a third level degree or higher in the country. In other words, approximately 740,000 people would elect six people to the House. In other words, part of the Bill proposes that if one votes in the university panel one cannot vote in another panel. Is that true?