Catherine Noone (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In my two years here the Seanad has provided for a host of interesting initiatives and amendments and I am confident that this Bill will give it the opportunity to do more, including engaging in real scrutiny and oversight of EU legislation, for which Members on all sides have called. The Bill also confers a range of additional powers on the Seanad in the scrutiny of legislation and the examination of public appointments, as well as in the holding of inquiries, and this House is more than capable of meeting such responsibilities.

I refer to the proposed composition contained in Part 2 of the Bill. Section 6 sets out clearly that the cultural and educational constituency would have eight Members, the agricultural constituency, nine Members, the labour constituency, ten Members, the industrial and commercial constituency, in which I ran, eight Members and the administrative constituency, eight Members. I have some minor reservations with these details and have concerns about how they were reached. It would seem the industrial and commercial constituency should now have more Members and that the five vocational panels should have equality here, although I admit this is a minor detail and one which could be raised on Committee Stage.

The Bill also includes a six-seat constituency for the universities and other institutions of higher education in the State and includes the Taoiseach's right to nominate 11 Members, which is provided for in the Constitution in any case. I am happy to see both of these provisions as I believe the current crop of Taoiseach's nominees has shown that nominees can contribute greatly to this Chamber and do not necessarily have to be party political appointments. The Taoiseach does not get enough credit for his appointments in this regard. The fact that one of the co-authors of the Bill is a Taoiseach's nominee is testament to this. It is vitally important for the future of the Seanad that the franchise for voting for third level candidates is extended to all institutions and it is shameful this was not done in 1979.

All political parties have played their part in reducing the effectiveness of the Seanad and it being treated as some place where one waits to go to the Dáil or where one hangs out after one has been in the Dáil. All parties and the body politic general is responsible for that.

The key part in section 21 seeks to confer on the Seanad a new role in the scrutiny of draft legislation which emanates from the institutions of the European Union. Our Chief Whip in the Dáil, Deputy Kehoe, is on record as conceding that the scrutiny of EU legislation is not adequate. Only one committee is charged with examining what is a large volume of proposals and that, in itself, is a failing. It is clear this is an area that can be improved on. As a solicitor and somebody with a great interest in European affairs, I believe this would be a great improvement in a reformed Seanad.

This Bill is a very clear and precise piece of work and it goes a long way to rectify the inadequacies and it will legislate for a more impactful and more relevant Seanad. I will finish with a quote from a former leader of Fine Gael, James Dillon, who said, let both Houses realise that both are necessary for the liberties of the country and let us join together to improve the efficiency of both Houses rather than joining in a trial of strength between the two Houses aimed at the destruction of one.