Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Taoiseach to the House.

For some reason, an infamous Irish saying springs to mind: "I would not start from here." However, here is where we are. We have a mandate from the people and I feel the weight of responsibility. What can be done immediately and within existing parameters? I welcome and support the Taoiseach's proposal to introduce legislation to extend the Seanad franchise to graduates of any other institutions of higher education in the State, in line with the 1979 referendum. While the most recent referendum is still fresh in our minds, I ask that we redesign the ballot paper as governed by the Referendum (Amendment) Act 1984. There is definitely scope for us to bring clarity to a question being asked.

I note the Bills on Seanad reform tabled by Senators Zappone and Quinn and Senator John Crown, and I hope we can move soon to consider them in detail. I await the respective Committee Stages to deal with the elements contained therein.

I endorse the calls by the Leader, Senator Cummins, for a committee week. These kinds of initiatives could be implemented without delay.

I am concerned that the focus of reform is directed at the Seanad alone as if it operated in a vacuum. We do business in both Houses and we need to consider how best we can play to our collective strengths to ensure better outcomes for the people. We should be discussing parliamentary reform. George Bernard Shaw said the best reformers the world has ever seen are those who commence on themselves. This is a sentiment with which I fully concur.

Often, people are willing to talk about reform in the abstract and in the future. However, we need to talk about it now. This is what I am going to focus on. With regard to Private Members' motions, there has been much public debate on the use of the whip. However, it is all too often focused on the Government's use of the whip. My experience and the reality is that the Government and Opposition use the whip with equal vigour. On many occasions I came into the Chamber for a vote and my colleagues looked puzzled on my asking them what it was about. I call on all parties to start with Private Members' motions. We need to stop automatically following the agenda set by the Lower House. Let us set our own agenda and table motions that are not used to condemn or champion one side or the other. Let us suspend the whip for Private Members' motions. Then each Member would have to reflect and decide on how he feels and what he believes.

The Independent group raised a number of issues in my Private Members' time in order to make progress on them. In October 2011, for example, I secured cross-party support for a Seanad motion on the missing children hotline. The Government kindly gave us time for that debate. This initiative, by the Members of this House who came together, served as the impetus for Ireland's introduction of the missing children hotline.

The Seanad can play a role in dealing with sensitive societal issues using a constructive and robust approach. In October 2011, the Independent group brought forward a motion seeking to criminalise the purchase of sex. The Minister for Justice and Equality initiated consultation. In April 2012, we introduced a follow-up motion in the same issue, as a result of which the Minister called for the justice committee to hold consultations and issue a report. The committee has rightly given considerable consideration to this issue and the recommendations issued in July are in line with the motion we tabled and debated in this House. This is the type of process I would like to see more often. This evening, as the Taoiseach knows, we have a motion on direct provision. We sought to have all-party agreement on it and I thank the Government for not having tabled a counter-motion. It would be great if we could use Private Members' time to allow each Member to bring forward constructive proposals.

The Taoiseach referred to the functions assigned to the Seanad. It should be considered that we could examine top-level appointments, statutory instruments and EU scrutiny. We should utilise the red and yellow cards system that has been given to us through the reforms introduced under the Lisbon treaty. We do not use them adequately.

It takes too long for Bills initiated by Members to be dealt with. We are still waiting to make further progress on the Bill introduced in May 2012 by Senator Crown, Senator Daly and me in regard to smoking in cars in which there is a child, and we are always told "soon". There is a perception that the only role of the Seanad is the scrutiny of legislation. The assumption derives from outside the House and I challenge it. We have the ability and expertise to initiate constructive legislation. It ought not to be blocked for the sake of blocking. This equally applies to amendments tabled in our scrutinising capacity.

I would like to use my opportunity to voice my concern over the sense of closing down public spaces and opportunities for engagement by civil society organisations. We need to see more heads of Bills being brought to committee. For me, the recent decision by the Dáil Committee on Procedure and Privileges to remove Members' rights to bring in groups and brief colleagues in the AV room highlights my concern. I am thankful that the Seanad Committee on Procedure and Privileges has decided not to be bound by this decision. However, there is increasing public concern. We are willing to engage. I have so much to say. To sum up, let us do what we have been paid to do.