Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach is very welcome to the House. I am delighted that he has taken the time to come to the Seanad to listen to the views of Members on the changes that could be made to enhance the contribution this House could make to the legislative and parliamentary process.
The main business of this House is legislation. That is and must remain our primary function. To date, the Government has initiated more than 40 pieces of legislation in this House, including some of the most important pieces of reforming legislation brought forward by it. It includes the Electoral Amendment (Political Funding) Bill, the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Persons Bill) 2012 and many other Bills. Extensive, insightful and detailed debates took place on these Bills, not to mention the lengthy debates we had on other Bills such as the ones on taxi regulation, animal welfare and the Gaeltacht, among others. Seanad amendments were accepted by Ministers and many Government amendments were made following the discussions that took place in this House. I have no doubt that the experience and expertise available in the Seanad will continue to be brought to bear on the legislation that will be brought before us in the future.

The purpose of this debate is to move on the process of Seanad reform which must be guided by a roadmap. For me, the question is how that roadmap should be devised, who should devise it and when. A task force on Seanad reform should be led by the Taoiseach's office, with a mix of current Members, academics and experts with an established interest in Seanad reform. The focus of such a task force should be on three areas: first, to examine the reform proposals already before us in various reports, in addition to the recent Bills introduced in the House; second, to receive and consider public submissions; and, third, to examine best practice in other bicameral jurisdictions. The task force should distil these down to a set of recommended reforms and report within three months. Input from members of the public should be facilitated during a four-week window for receipt of submissions. These are some of my suggestions for moving on the process.

The 24th Seanad has initiated its own reforms. The Seanad Public Consultation Committee has facilitated greater engagement by the Seanad with the public, representative groups and professional experts. In addition, we have invited distinguished guests to address the House and inform us on measures that could feed into policy-making and assist in bringing proposals to Ministers and the Government as a whole.

The work of the Oireachtas would be enhanced by having a dedicated committee week, perhaps one week in four. Nothing annoys me more than Members saying they have to attend committee meetings here, there and everywhere, which means that they are not present in the Chamber for the substantive business of the House in plenary session. That would assist the other House, also.

The Order of Business in the Seanad should be more focused and reformed, but that is something we can deal with ourselves.

I suggest also that more reports by the various joint committees be formally referred to this House for examination. The debates on them would preferably be held in the presence of a Minister, but if one was unavailable, the relevant departmental officials could be present to clarify the issues involved and record recommendations made by Members.

This type of focused debate could be of great benefit to the policy-making process. It would not in any way be intended to duplicate the work of committees but to support and enhance that work.

I agree with my colleague at the other side of the House that the scrutiny of EU directives is another area in which the Seanad could play a useful role. Giving the House formal authority to scrutinise all EU directives and other statutory instruments could greatly benefit the Government in identifying the implications for Ireland and any necessary action that should be taken. This would be a significant step in reforming the way business is carried out here.

In reforming the Seanad, we must go about our business in a professional and practical way that best serves the needs of the people who have chosen to put us here. I speak as Leader when I say we are here to work with the Government and use the skills at our disposal. Our fundamental principle of reform must involve ensuring the House is a Seanad of the people. It must represent minorities and other sectors of society that do not secure representation here. It must draw upon experts in various sectors and continue to be the vibrant legislative Chamber that it is.