Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The projected debate with the projected date of the referendum has focused minds on Seanad reform and has cultivated a more meaningful debate than at any time in the recent history of the Seanad. In the general election of 2011, almost all the political parties identified abolition of the Seanad as part of their political reform agendas. The Sinn Féin manifesto proposed abolition of the Seanad.