Seanad debates

Thursday, 27 June 2013

An Bille um an Dara Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Deireadh a Chur le Seanad Éireann) 2013: An Dara Céim (Atógáil) - Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of Seanad Éireann) Bill 2013: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

12:25 pm

Photo of Aideen HaydenAideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

At the outset, as Whip of the Labour Seanad group I will of course be supporting this Bill and welcome the debate I believe will ensue in the public domain on both the future of the Seanad and the wider political system. I believe that will be inevitable following the passing of this Bill and the media attention that hopefully will follow but which has not tended to follow Seanad activities in the past, which is a pity. The position of the Labour Party in its 2011 manifesto was for the matter of Seanad abolition to be brought to the Constitutional Convention as part of a broader process of reform of governance and Oireachtas structures. The holding of a Constitutional Convention was one of the commitments in the programme for Government, as was the holding of a referendum on Seanad abolition.

However, the programme for Government did not, at least on my first reading of it, exclude the possibility that the convention would discuss the matter of Seanad abolition. Given a major portion of the remit of the convention is to discuss political reform and in particular systems of voting and representation, I believe the convention was weakened by not being able to discuss how we elect those who govern us with the broadest possible remit. This view is supported by the fact that the vote which took place at the convention as to whether the matter of the Seanad should be included in the convention's remit in advance of the referendum was narrowly defeated. It was defeated after - I emphasise "after" - the convention's chair made it clear that the role of the convention was to discuss those matters which the Government requested it to do first, which did not include Seanad abolition or reform, thereby presenting a clear message to the convention's members.

It is important to bear in mind the convention is an important departure in the Irish political scene and was established to consider a number of constitutional matters comprehensively, to report to the Government on those matters and for them to be considered by both Houses of the Oireachtas. These matters include the review of the electoral system; reduction of the presidential term to five years; provision for same-sex marriage; deletion of outdated clauses on women in the home; the removal of blasphemy from the Constitution; and the possible reduction of the voting age. These are important matters in the life and future of the Constitution and as I already have stated, I believe the convention's remit to have been weakened by the failure to include a discussion on the Seanad.

I have been very impressed by the standard of debate at the Constitutional Convention at which every strand of society is represented, including a significant number of people who do not agree with my viewpoints. The debate on political reform which did take place has, from my perspective as a member of the convention, been critical of the current political system. There was a generally expressed view, for example, that the current political system is dominated to too great an extent by the largest political parties. For example, the convention voted, by a majority of 83%, for larger constituencies to ensure a more representative Dáil.

Clientelism was also seen as a distinct feature of Irish politics. Members voted by a majority of 55% that Dáil Éireann should be permitted to appoint people who were not Members of the Oireachtas as Ministers in order to broaden the field of expertise because it was perceived that the expertise among Members of the Oireachtas was insufficient. Members of the convention also expressed the majority view that Ministers, on their appointment, should resign their Dáil seats on the grounds - as expressed in the debate - that it would allow them to get on with the job and not spend their time fixing potholes and, as it were, looking after their constituency. As Members can see, the convention clearly expressed its dissatisfaction with the current process.

Reform of the political system should be taken as a whole, of which the Seanad is a part. While the Government has moved to strengthen other aspects of government, such as local government, which has been cited by An Taoiseach as a reason we can now move forward with the abolition of the Seanad, I do not believe we are there yet, by any manner of means. Meaningful local government will in time make clientelism redundant, at least in the main part, and will lead to more professional central government and more transparent local government. The process of centralising decision making within Departments and away from local authorities took many decades. I have no doubt that meaningful change will also take some time. However, let us not forget that if one looks closer at the reasons successive Governments saw fit to reduce the powers of local government, they included a concern with decisions being made for the wrong reasons and a preoccupation with parish pump politics. Reform, therefore, unless it is meaningful reform with appropriate local accountability and with local resources spent locally, will not greatly improve the democratic process. The jury is therefore out.

As has been said on a number of occasions by previous speakers, countries of a similar size to Ireland that have only one chamber have significantly stronger local and regional governments. In Wales, for example, with a population similar to Ireland, there are four regional local authority areas. They not only collect local charges but also manage local education and policing. Regional and local authorities are significantly stronger than in Ireland. That is also true in northern European countries that were cited by An Taoiseach as examples of unicameral systems.

The Taoiseach has also indicated that to fill the lacuna in legislative scrutiny which he accepts would follow abolition of the Seanad, the legislative process, in particular the committee system, will need to be reformed and reorganised to ensure adequate legislative scrutiny and checks on Government are in place. It has been recognised by a number of persons and it has been cited on a number of occasions that the Irish Parliament is held to be one of the most Executive-dominated parliaments among parliamentary democracies in Europe and among OECD countries. I accept that the Taoiseach did accept reform would be simultaneous with the abolition of the Seanad. However, if there was to have been a meaningful debate on the issue, it should have been done and discussed in the context of the Constitutional Convention in the first instance as part of wider governmental reform. On the basis of the debate I witnessed in the Constitutional Convention, I agree with Senator van Turnhout's initial observation that having also sat on committees, it is difficult to envisage how the Dáil as currently constituted is going to carry out the functions which the Taoiseach has set out for it. It is notoriously true that Deputies have a sufficient amount of onus on them to spend as much time as possible in their constituencies. An Taoiseach will find some resistance in expanding the workload of Deputies within the current clientelist electoral system.

It is interesting to note that this Seanad is probably the strongest one in the history of the modern State. I will not go back as far as the 1920s. The choice of Taoiseach's nominees has moved away from the traditional party hacks being appointed and shows that it can be an important House. I will not name individuals. Without any disrespect to An Taoiseach's nominees, who have been significantly praised in recent days, for the sake of argument, however, I wish to mention the role of some other Members of the Seanad, for example, Senator Norris, in the work he has done, and my colleague, Senator Ivana Bacik, who championed a number of pieces of legislation, including the Electoral (Amendment) (Political Funding) Act, which was passed into law and will significantly enhance the role of women in politics. She also introduced the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Act. Without looking like a blushing bride, the first Labour Private Members' Bill on mortgage arrears was authored by me. It proposed a number of solutions that were subsequently adopted by the Government and made a positive contribution.

I am aware that I am up against the clock. Having had the experience of sitting in this Chamber, it does a very valuable job that cannot be lightly cast aside. With the confidence in the system as it currently stands, with a lack of a significant local government element and a Dáil that is strongly influenced by local matters and clientelism, there stands a significant danger with the abolition of the Seanad. I would like the Taoiseach to commit that if the referendum does not pass, he will refer the matter to the Constitutional Convention.

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