Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Ní haon locht air é nuair a deirim gur trua é nach bhfuil an Taoiseach anseo leis an díospóireacht seo a chloisteáil. Nuair a bhí mé ag caint inné, dúirt mé nach bhfuil dabht ar bith ann go mbíonn Taoiseach na tíre gnóthach, ach i ndáiríre tá sé ábalta am a fháil le haghaidh go leor gnóthaí eile. Is trua liom é nach bhfuil sé in ann bheith anseo le haghaidh na díospóireachta tábhachtach seo maidir le todhchaí an tSeanaid.

I welcome the Minister of State but I am disappointed the Taoiseach was not here for the full debate. The least he could have done to show respect to all Senators in the House would have been to listen to their views on this issue. I can understand why a Taoiseach would be unable to attend the House every day on every Bill, but as he has championed the cause on this Bill, he could have spent time listening to the points being put forward.

When Giovanni Trapattoni wished to climb Croagh Patrick, he could find a few hours for that. He opened extensions to three schools in Connemara recently, which was fantastic, and was able to spend a full day there. He was able to meet members of the tobacco industry, as Senator Crown pointed out. He is able to go to Davos and swan about with the leaders of the world. It is quite disrespectful that he is not able to come to the House and listen to 60 Senators. Not every Senator may want to contribute, but the least the Taoiseach should have done is come to the House and debate the issue with us.

Senator O'Donnell referred to reform. The Government said we have had ten different reports on reform of the Seanad but nothing has happened. It is its job to implement reform. When it comes to the health service, the Government is always telling us it is putting in place reform. It told us it would reform the VEC sector. It is reforming local government. For some reason, when it comes to the Seanad, reform is an impossibility. I do not see the logic of that and both sides of the argument do not stack up. Reform needs political will to be implemented.

It is true there has never been the political will to implement reform in this House, even with all the different reports. We need to ask why that is the case. Our role is to be here as public representatives. We are here to bring issues forward on behalf of the citizens of the State and those living abroad.

The Seanad will only be as good as the Senators in it. To be quite honest, a lot of Senators work incredibly hard, but there are a number who could probably work harder. That is an issue for their groupings. Senator Landy quite clearly outlined our limited powers. Within them, most Senators use whatever mechanisms we have to raise very valid bona fide issues. We table matters on the Adjournment, we use the Order of Business and will use the platform this stage gives us to raise issues in our communities and to talk to groups who have elected us and want issues raised. We rarely raise issues just because we come in on a whim and feel like talking about something. In general, any issues we raise in the House are brought to our attention by somebody else.

We have to ask whether we represent the full gamut of the citizens of the State, which is the crux of the issue. We do not. Maybe that is why reform has never happened. The House has been a closed shop since its instigation and has looked after vested interests and represented elites. No reform has happened because it did not suit those in power to hand power back to the citizens.

It is a retrograde step that the Taoiseach has been so stubborn on this issue that he would not allow it to be discussed by the Constitutional Convention. Sinn Féin policy, as agreed at our Ard-Fheiseanna, has been abolition of the Seanad in its current form because, as I have outlined, it is elitist and undemocratic. All citizens do not have a universal franchise to elect people to the House. We have called for reform and have asked repeatedly for the issue to be sent before the Constitutional Convention which has shown us it can play a very positive role in these types of issues. The Taoiseach has his own mind on these issues.

Before the Taoiseach made his decision, how much democracy took place in Fine Gael and the Labour Party to debate the issue and come to a group conclusion that they wanted to abolish the Seanad? I would guess very little, if any. It has been confirmed by some of my fellow Senators-----