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)

 

12:45 pm

Photo of David NorrisDavid Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I shivered when I saw this lamentable Bill in print. There should have been two Bills and it was dishonest for there not to be. This Bill does one thing very specifically and clearly. It is not a Bill to facilitate the holding of a referendum; no decent person could vote against a Bill that facilitated the holding of a referendum. This Bill purports to extinguish the Seanad.

For that reason, no decent, self-respecting Senator could ever vote for it.

According to the explanatory memorandum, "the Bill provides that Seanad Éireann is to be abolished and, in consequence of its abolition, amends provisions of the Constitution that confer functions on Seanad Éireann or that are premised on the existence of that House." The word "referendum" is not even mentioned. This is the extinction of the Seanad; it is force majeureand a power grab. I am honoured that I was the first person to demonstrate that, through all the subterfuge, the Government is concealing a power grab that will also enable it to impeach the President and Supreme Court. It will get rid of this House at its peril and no emollient speeches from the other side will convince me otherwise.

The Bill is badly drafted, highly technical and deliberately confusing. It is a piece of red meat held out by the Taoiseach to distract the attention of the guard dogs in order that the Irish people can be fooled. We are witnessing the Lisbon treaty all over again. It is the same bloody tactic. People did not even read the Lisbon treaty because it was deliberately worded to confuse people. I have read legislation for the past 26 years. When I first read this Bill I thought it was inaccurate because of the way in which the Irish and English provisions were drafted. I had an expert examine the text and the person in question indicated that was not the case but the text was drafted in such a technical manner that God almighty could not make head nor tail of it. The drafting is completely and utterly deliberate.

I stated no self-respecting Senator could vote for the Bill. How could one do so? I also stated this Bill is not about having a referendum but about extinguishing the Seanad. This is not a case of turkeys voting for Christmas but being invited to slit their own throats and eviscerate and stuff themselves at the instigation of the Taoiseach. Those on the benches opposite who pose as democrats and orators should note that there is not even a suggestion of a vegetarian alternative because the Taoiseach from the west has blood on his fangs and believes the Irish people are as stupid as those who elected his Government on false promises.

We hear blather about reform of the Dáil but I do not believe a word of it. The Taoiseach should show us the colour of his money; out with it and let us see some Dáil reform. There is not a damn bit of it and Irish people would be bloody stupid to allow him to abolish the Seanad. He is pretending that, down the road somewhere, he will make a serious attempt at Dáil reform. Why would he do so when he has mutilated the Oireachtas, carved it up by one third, halved parliamentary representation and grabbed all the powers of committees? Dáil reform is not the direction in which he is moving.

The Taoiseach cites various countries such as "little" Denmark and Finland. That is great but those countries abolished their second chambers in tandem with measures to significantly strengthen local democracy and changed the regulations in parliament to provide for free votes and votes of conscience. I will believe Enda bloody Kenny when he allows a free vote on the abortion Bill. Let us see some consistency and honesty. I do not know what the Taoiseach reads but he appears to have been reading the great essay on simulation and dissimulation by Sir Francis Bacon because there is not one tissue of truth in his rotten little speech.

This is an appalling situation. If one goes down the corridor, one will see on the wall a portrait of a smug looking little politician who would get lost among the crowdeen of cábógs in here who are trying to abolish the Seanad. His name was John Foster and in 1800, no doubt in tones of lovely Augustine Latin, he pronounced the death of the Irish Parliament. He then shoved a silver mace up under his gown and legged it down the street. Foster was a liar and thief and, as far as I am concerned, whoever proposes and votes for this Bill is a liar, thief and traitor to the Irish people. If the Seanad is abolished, the portrait of Foster should be placed in the Chair as a reminder of the shame brought on this House.

We have heard that this House is useless. How useless were Mary Robinson and Owen Sheehy-Skeffington? The Government had the unmitigated cheek to enrol Mary Robinson who would be furious at the denigration of the Seanad. I know Mary Robinson better than any other Member of the House. I was also a friend of Noel Browne for 30 years. Until his death, he signed my nomination papers on each occasion I stood for the Seanad. He would be livid at the idea that some grimy little squirt from the other side had been sent out to abuse his name. While Noel Browne cannot speak for himself, I sure as hell can because I knew him intimately unlike the little bamboozlers who never knew him. Without Seanad Éireann, we would not have had the first debate on AIDS, there would not be a foreign affairs committee and the House would not have debated rendition. I handed the papers I received and work I did on rendition to the then Deputy Michael D. Higgins in the Dáil. While the other House took up the matter, it was first taken up in this House. Without the Seanad, we would not have had the civil partnership legislation, at least not for some years. How many Bills has my colleague, Senator Feargal Quinn, produced, even in this session? The Senator's Construction Contracts Bill remains stuck in the Lower House while these idiots complain about us.

The Taoiseach had the gall to stand on the plinth and ask what the Seanad had done to stop the disaster of the Celtic tiger. I will tell him what I did. I stood in this Chamber and argued against it, making a case that was clear, logical and confirmed to be right. Thanks to Deputy Mathews, I showed that certain figures were wrong and produced accurate figures. I voted against benchmarking. I placed on record the names of the bondholders and when I stated they should be burned, the then Cathaoirleach nearly broke his gavel. No one in the Dáil had the balls to do the same, including the then Deputy Kenny. Where was he at that stage? He may be puffed up and brave in challenging the Seanad now but at that time he was in the Lower House supporting the pouring of fuel on the Celtic tiger, engaging in his usual corrupt auction politics and leading his meek little supporters in to the Dáil to vote in favour of the bank guarantee. Despite this, the man has the impertinence to attack the Seanad.

It has been argued the Seanad was not reformed. I agree with Senator Marie-Louise O'Donnell that the establishment did nothing for ten years.

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