Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----and I am sure the Senator believes it because she will take my bona fides in this matter, that if the Seanad is abolished, the new procedures for additional Dáil scrutiny, with the seven Stages I mentioned earlier, will be put in place. That is the situation that prevails. It is the policy of the Government, and all the changes in Standing Orders will comply with that.

I apologise to Senator Barrett that I did not get a chance earlier to speak again on the section in terms of his question on voters in the North. If he reads Article 18 of the Constitution, which is the principal Article dealing with Seanad Éireann, he will see that it makes it clear that the question of the franchise and the rights of voting, particularly within the universities mentioned in the Articles, are a matter for law. They are a matter for this House and the other House to determine. On the argument, therefore, about what takes precedence, it is fair to say that constitutional law takes precedence over statute. Article 18 is very clear that the question of the franchise dealing with the two universities concerned, the National University of Ireland and Trinity College Dublin, are matters for the Legislature as to the way they are composed and what is done to them.

There is a broader definition, to which the Senator referred and to which I want to refer also, namely, Article 2, which speaks about the Irish nation. One of the things the much maligned Government has done, which I believe everyone now accepts, is the establishment of the Constitutional Convention, and it is examining this issue, particularly in terms of the Presidency, about whether voting rights would be extended to people who are part of the Irish nation. The Irish State is the Irish State. The Irish nation is a much broader concept. It deals with people living inside the Irish State and those living outside it. One could argue whether people in Northern Ireland who have an Irish passport and therefore are Irish citizens, and belong to the Irish nation, are entitled to vote. To take the Senator's case, my understanding is that one must be a passport holder to vote. For those passport holders in Northern Ireland who do not have degrees from Trinity College Dublin-----