Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was spurred to rise.

A Senator referred to the Title of the Bill and said it was an abolition of the Seanad Bill. This House is noted for putting facts on the record and for scrutinising Bills in detail and not allowing misinformation that this Bill is about abolition of the Seanad go out. The Bill's Title is the Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution (Abolition of the Seanad) Bill. Abolition of the Seanad is in brackets. I will give a definition of what brackets mean to those who have not read the Bill correctly. Brackets are punctuation to interject text within the main text and can be omitted without destroying or altering, in any way, the meaning of the main text. The main text of the Title is the Thirty-second Amendment of the Constitution Bill.

The Constitution is the book of the people, who will speak. Not a word, a full stop or anything else can be changed without the people speaking. We, on this side of the House, are giving the power to the people and are giving them their right. There have been ten reports on the Seanad but nothing has been done; there has been no action from anybody. Members on the other side of the House were in government for a long time. It is time to give the people the choice. We are always talking about participative democracy. Let the people choose. Senator Maurice Cummins has brought the people into this House to ensure they are included.

We are being true to the pledge made in the Fine Gael general election manifesto in 2011 to hold a referendum. The Government would have been accused of breaking pledges if it did not have one. I am sorry but one cannot have it both ways. The Bill, if approved by the people, will make many changes to the Constitution and it would serve this House better if it concentrated more on the minutiae of the amendments and the details of the 70 odd changes to the Constitution which will be made. We had a good debate on Second Stage, as another Senator pointed out, and I would like such debate continue.

I would like to hear more debate on the transition provisions in the Bill because one cannot leave the House hanging without any provisions being made. Transitional arrangements will have to be made. The Taoiseach, Fine Gael and the Labour Party are giving the choice to the people. No action has been taken heretofore.

I think Senator Daly spoke about red tape. If there was one bit of red tape I could change in this House, it would be repetition. We talk about a family-friendly environment and time management but I have listened today to much of what I had heard on Second Stage. We should reform how we do our business in terms of repetition. Somebody referred to women being given the vote. Women would get home to their families, as would men, if we engaged in a bit of time management and ensured we said things once and well rather than often. Something will not get any better even if one repeats it ten times.