David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I shall resist the temptation to deal with any of the tempting morsels, such as abortion and the protection of human life during Pregnancy Bill, because people are so polarised. I will also resist the case of the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, although I would be interested to know what other public figures he has felt free to smear in the last couple of years.

However, I very much hope there will be some coverage of another issue, namely, the fate of Seanad Éireann. I attempted to raise this at the convention forum which decided, democratically, it did not wish to accept it, after a series of very heavy interventions from the platform. If the forum cannot discuss us we should discuss it and the deliberate exclusion of the subject of the Seanad from the convention, in spite of the clear wish of the vast majority of Members that it should be discussed. The delegates believe it is not possible. We should discuss this exclusion because what we are talking about is the abolition of the Oireachtas. Once the Seanad is abolished the Oireachtas will be gone as we know it and will effectively be the Dáil alone, which is terribly dangerous. President Mugabe's first step when he took over in Zimbabwe was to abolish its Senate.

During the very brief debate that took place we were asked why we had never reformed ourselves. I can tell the Irish public why we never did so. I have been a Member of this House for 26 years. Every time there was a report on reform of the Seanad - including an all-party agreed report, tabled by me, as Members will remember - it was voted down on the instructions of the incumbent Government. The Government deliberately prevented the Seanad from reforming itself. It did not want it reformed and now it is holding us up. It targeted the university seats and even though it got a referendum through some 27, 28 or 29 years ago, which would have democratised further the only democratic element, namely, the university seats, it has never acted to do this. The Government does not want a reformed Seanad.

However, as a result of the Bill passed in this House, thanks to the bravery of Members on the other side, for which I compliment them, we now have a clear choice between abolition or reform. This is an extremely important matter, and particularly so because of this Bill, the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill. Under the Bill, the Government will take to itself, via Dáil Éireann, the right to impeach the President and to bring him or her before a committee of Dáil Éireann alone and dismiss him or her if it feels like it. It can do the same to the Supreme Court.