Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. All political power will be concentrated in the hands of the Government, which Senator Quinn has told us will be the one and only party in the Oireachtas, and in a non-reformed Dáil that will be a gloomy prospect for the future of our country. As we heard other Senators discuss, if the Dáil is reformed, it will be at the beck and call of the Government of the day, if it is the only House that sits in the Oireachtas.

It gave me great pleasure to sign the Bill before the House this evening last week as I feel it goes a long way to addressing many of the problems we have with the current Seanad. First, I would like to acknowledge the work of Senators Zappone and Quinn and their colleagues from outside the Oireachtas in the preparation of this extensive Bill. As I said in this Chamber a few months ago when discussing another Seanad reform Bill brought forward by Senator Crown, there was much talk and many opinions about the work and future of this Chamber, much of which was based on populist soundbites and little factual information. Regrettably the biggest peddler of this false message is the Government symbolised by its firm position of only offering the people an option of abolition or retention and not a third option of reform. I would respectfully say to the Leader that if the people decide to keep the Seanad and then we reform it afterwards, it is a little bit unfair to the citizens of the country because reform needs to be on the table now for discussion, not just the two options of abolition or retention.

In my opinion the biggest insult of all is the Government's claim that this is all about political reform. I suspect that if a first year political science student offered up the Government's rationale for the abolition of the Seanad in an essay, he or she would fail the exercise and perhaps the tutor's comments would include a note to the effect of "must try harder".

This Bill along with Senator Crown's Bill show what is possible with a little effort and imagination. I do not think there is one Senator in this Chamber who feels that this House works well and is reflective of Irish society in its composition, electoral system and how its business is currently structured. Nor do I believe that the majority of the Government Senators agree with the idea of abolishing the Seanad, something to which I hope they remain true in the coming months. When preparing for this debate over the weekend I thought that what we might see is people voting against what they believe in because the powers that be told them to. Thankfully, the Government's decision not to oppose the Bill means that will not happen on this occasion but it has occurred on endless other issues in this House in recent times. This demonstrates clearly to me one of the biggest problems we face in this Chamber, namely the rigid Whip system which does not allow for independent thought.

While the Bill before us would not solve that problem entirely it would lessen the power and control of the political parties which currently exist in the Seanad. This control can be traced back to the electoral system which sees the majority of Senators being elected by an electorate of approximately 2,000 county councillors who happen to be members of political parties and tend to vote in accordance with party headquarters' instructions. This results in it being virtually impossible for an Independent to be elected on to one of the vocational panels.

No disrespect to any of my wonderful colleagues but this narrow and restrictive system does not always allow for the election of the best candidates. Under the Bill before the House, the electoral process would be taken out of the hands of the political parties and placed firmly in the hands of our citizens and the public, where it should be, through a vote for each citizen. The fact that people could be nominated to contest the Seanad election in three ways also serves to open the House to the people and this must be welcomed. For too long, words such as elitist and so on have been directed towards this House and, in my opinion, rightly so. The Bill is designed to work within the confines of the Constitution and as a result the Taoiseach of the day will continue to have the right to appoint 11 Senators. This is questionable if we truly want to have a strong independent Upper House but I can appreciate the reason for this remaining to be the case in this reform Bill. I welcome the envisaged extension of the franchise to all third level graduates, something which is long overdue. Another plus of this Bill is the proposed pay structure and pension entitlements of Senators as it is more suitable for the work being undertaken and, perhaps, more importantly it is more reflective of the world outside these four walls. I am sure this is a gesture which the public will appreciate because, for too long, the political class has not shown serious leadership. We have not been examples to the public and the pain they feel.

I have some reservations around the proposed half and half gender balance in the Bill. I am not in favour of a fixed 30-30 breakdown of males and females as proposed. I can appreciate the logic and intention behind this provision but it goes too far and it is almost as if we are trying to artificially engineer democracy. To my knowledge I am not aware of any parliament in the world where such a system operates. I just want to put on the record my concerns around this provision which I feel needs more scrutiny on Committee Stage.

Where the Bill really excites me are the proposed changes around how we do our work in this Chamber. As someone who comes from a business background, I have lost count of the number of times I have been dismayed at the way we do things in here. There are a few areas that have merit, the scrutiny of EU legislation and the examination of public appointments as well as the holding of inquiries. These three powers would greatly enhance the relevance and performance of the Seanad. Finally, I note how this Bill envisages the establishment of a committee to structure and plan the business of the House chaired by a non-government Senator.

In conclusion, I repeat my call on the Government to at least allow the people have a choice around a reformed Seanad when it comes to the referendum day later this year. I hope they will act in this manner if they are to be taken seriously around the area of political reform.