Marie Louise O'Donnell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have two very short points. If I were to ask Irish people what occurs in the Seanad – I include myself in so far as I am a newly appointed Senator – I would hazard a guess that 95% would say they do not know. Therefore, the first thing the Seanad needs to do before it starts reforming is informing the Irish people as to what occurs here. We have very little time to do so between now and October.

I do not agree with three quarters of the Bill but I still welcome it and the effort that went into it. My grandmother used to say that if we had a problem, it usually began in our own kitchen, not up town. If we want to change, clean up or reform the Seanad, we need to do so on our own island through our own Irish electorate. We do not need to look to the diaspora, Northern Ireland, Argentina or North America. We need to inform the electorate on our own island and give it a vote in our Seanad. I welcome the Bill as a discussion document but we need to start informing, not reforming, the Irish people as to what we do here because they do not know.