Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Tairgim leasú a 28:

In page 8, to delete lines 8 to 11 and substitute the following:“2° Is é an lá dá dtagraítear i bhfo-alt 1° den alt seo an 91ú lá a thiocfaidh Dáil Éireann le chéile den chéad uair tar éis an olltoghcháin do chomhaltaí de Dháil Éireann is túisce a bheidh ann tar eis an tAirteagal seo a achtú.”.and
In page 8, to delete lines 26 to 29 and substitute the following: “2° The day referred to in subsection 1° hereof is the 91st day on which Dáil Éireann first meets after the general election for members of Dáil Éireann that next takes place after the enactment of this Article.”.

I move amendment No. 28:

I leathanach 9, línte 8 go 11 a scriosadh agus an méid seo a leanas a chur ina n-ionad: “2° Is é an lá dá dtagraítear i bhfo-alt 1° den alt seo an 91ú lá a thiocfaidh Dáil Éireann le chéile den chéad uair tar éis an olltoghcháin do chomhaltaí de Dháil Éireann is túisce a bheidh ann tar eis an tAirteagal seo a achtú.”.agusI leathanach 9, línte 26 go 29 a scriosadh agus an méid seo a leanas a chur ina n-ionad:
“2° The day referred to in subsection 1° hereof is the 91st day on which Dáil Éireann first meets after the general election for members of Dáil Éireann that next takes place after the enactment of this Article.”.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Cathaoirleach on this extremely sad evening in light of the vote we have just had. I do not believe in the abolition of Seanad Éireann. I hope that all those opposite do not dare to ever come into this House again when we win the referendum. They have shamed themselves by their vote. This was a splendid Parliament.

I am always keen to update the Minister on what we do. Yesterday, a motion was accepted by the Leader to have a discussion on Northern Ireland and possibly invite the Orange Order to the House. The debate on prisons was informed by the great T. K. Whitaker, a former Member, and the Minister of State's colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, accepted our concerns about tenants in accommodation where a landlord goes broke. We are still doing all the work that the Taoiseach ignores by turning up here once a year just for a one-hour period, and that is why the Seanad should not be abolished.

We have not consulted the electorate in Northern Ireland. My estimate is that there are approximately 8,000 of them between the two university constituencies. No attempt was made to vindicate their rights under the Belfast Agreement of 1998 or the rights given to them under the Constitution, and the Government has never used the machinery under the Anglo-Irish Agreement in its treatment of the voting rights of those persons. That partitionist thinking is a shame. We were saying yesterday, in reference to the Orange Order's previous visit, that part of its mythology, which informs the rioting in Belfast at present, is that its population in the Border counties has shrunk to an extremely low level while the Nationalist minority in Northern Ireland has increased.

I asked the question, which jurisdiction treated its minorities better. The way they have casually cast aside agreements that we made with them, which were ratified by the United Nations in 1988, means that we will vote for more arms and protective clothing for the members of the PSNI who must handle the situation. It is extremely insensitive not to recognise that we need all of the contacts in both parts of the island. The matter has been treated casually.

We have heard no reply from the Minister, the Government or the Taoiseach which is a major mistake regarding the abolition of Seanad Éireann Part II. Instead, we have a completely daft, and not just misleading, but absurd collection of costings-----