Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá lúcháir orm deis a bheith agam labhairt ar an mBille seo. Ar an drochuair, ní thugann an Bille seo an dara rogha do mhuintir na tíre seachas cinneadh a dhéanamh an Seanad a choinneáil nó deireadh a chur leis. Níl aon idirdhealú ann i dtaca le deis a thabhairt do phobal na tíre athbhreithniú a dhéanamh ar obair an tSeanaid agus Seanad níos fearr agus níos gníomhaí a chur in áit. Measaim go bhfuil botún mór á dhéanamh ag an Rialtas sa mhéid sin. Caithfidh mé é sin a rá. I have listened to much of the debate both here and in the Dáil on this Bill which proposes the abolition of the Seanad. As a former Member of the Seanad, the Minister of State will be aware that many of the politicians currently serving in the Dáil cut their political teeth in this House. Some Deputies spent a period in this House after they had lost their seats in the other House.

Democracy is wonderful. It gives the people an opportunity to have their say. The 1937 Constitution provides for a bicameral system of parliamentary democracy in this country, with two Houses of the Oireachtas. Martin Luther King once said, "Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy." Before the last general election, Fine Gael and the Labour Party went before the electorate and promised a new form of democracy that would be closer to the people. The leader of Fine Gael, Deputy Enda Kenny, said the people would have their say and that their representatives would represent them effectively and properly. We have since seen a change in the way the democratic institutions of the State are operating. Irrespective of the promises made, more people have been appointed to State agencies and the boards of semi-State organisations, etc., during the short lifetime of the Government than during the term of the previous Administration.

The real crux of the issue is the attack on democracy happening under the Government's watch. The proposal to abolish town councils is an attack on democracy at its lowest level because town councillors are the closest public representatives to the people. The town of Letterkenny in my constituency has flourished under a thriving town council, the abolition of which will be proposed under legislation that will be brought before this House later in the year. The Government blocked the holding of an election to the board of Údarás na Gaeltachta, of which I am a former member. Bhí deis ag muintir na Gaeltachta a gcuid vótaí a chaitheamh agus daoine a thoghadh ar an mbord. Bhí mé i bhfábhar an chinnidh a ghlac an Rialtais líon na gcomhaltaí ar an mbord a laghdú ó 20 go 12. I had no difficulty with the proposal to reduce the size of the board from 20 to 12. While I supported the decision made by the Government in that instance, I felt its decision to remove the vote from people who live in Gaeltacht areas was an absolute attack on democracy. Now that the members of the board are appointed by the Government, the board consists entirely of members of Fine Gael or the Labour Party who were appointed under the Government's watch. That does not represent democracy - it represents the creation of another quango by the Government. That is not what was promised before the 2011 general election.

The proposal to provide for the abolition of the Seanad was made before the last general election. In 2009, during the MacGill summer school in my constituency, the then Leader of the Opposition and current Taoiseach issued a statement saying he envisaged that a reformed Seanad, playing a greater role in Irish society, would be the best option for the people. At a Fine Gael dinner or gig later that year, he engaged in a finger-licking exercise to see which way the wind was blowing. Politicians are sometimes accused of doing this.