Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree there are other sections, and there will be much more to say on those, but I have a problem with this legislation from beginning to end. In respect of section 1, we are starting off in the wrong place. I am using this opportunity to put certain comments on the record. Since the foundation of the State a legislative debate of this nature has not taken place in either House and while it may have been a political gimmick for some at the time, it is now serious. If this legislation is passed as a result of the Government majority, and the people running the whole show I spoke about earlier succeed, this question will be put to the people and if the people vote to abolish the Seanad, Irish society will spend 50 years trying to replace it, and it will not be able to get agreement on that.