Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It would be well worth giving Senator Ivana Bacik a couple of more minutes.

I welcome the Minister of State at the Department of Taoiseach, Deputy Paul Kehoe. I appreciate his being here so soon after our other debate on Seanad reform.

I highly commend the university Senators for tabling the motion. I welcome its breadth, as Senator Ivana Bacik and others have identified, and echo the words of Senator David Norris who opened the debate that the Government promised radical democratic reform. We are considering whether there has been enough reform for the people; obviously, the amendment to the motion lists a number of things that have been reformed. I look forward to the Minister of State's speech and hearing what the Leader, Senator Maurice Cummins, has to say. The counter-motion lists the reforms made, but I agree with Senator David Norris that they may not have been as substantive as originally envisaged. I feel privileged to have participated in a number of them. I hope to bring forward progressive reforms in the context of the Government's record.

I wish to highlight the issues Senator Ivana Bacik raised, about which I spoke a number of weeks ago when I tabled a motion calling for legislation to be introduced on universal suffrage in Seanad elections. I called for reform to give every citizen one vote in Seanad elections. As I understand it, the Government has dismissed the idea of universal suffrage, citing, among other things, the fear that a replica of the Dáil would be created with a reformed Seanad. It is important that we be absolutely clear that the Constitution leaves it to the Oireachtas to decide on how the Members of the Seanad are to be elected. The panels remain, but a different method of election could be provided for in legislation; therefore, the only barrier to creating a more democratic Seanad appears to be a lack of political will. The retention of the current voting structures means - let me remind the people - that a little more than 1,000 politicians will elect 43 Members in the next Seanad in 2016, unless a change is brought about. If politicians comprise the majority of the electorate for the Seanad, of course, we will see the continued dominance of the political parties. The opening of the elections to the people would change this in order that civil society organisations, unions, farmers' groups and ordinary citizens would have a chance to gain a Seanad seat.

At the time of the referendum the Government argued for the abolition of the Seanad on the basis of our undemocratic nature and now it is seeking to reinforce that undemocratic element by denying a vote to all citizens. I simply ask that the Government provide a more substantive rationale for denying the people a vote for the Seanad than that it would make it a replica of the Dáil. Of course, the issue of cost has been cited as well. It is not correct to state that the cost of direct election to the Seanad would be prohibitive. Extending the franchise to all third level graduates will of course incur costs. The process would be more cost effective if it were used to extend the franchise to all voters who are registered for the Dáil and local elections.

As Senator Norris said, let us put in place something that will work. A constructive suggestion about how we can be really efficient around the cost issue is the establishment of an independent electoral commission. It could dramatically reduce the cost of all elections and could form part of the reform to extend the Seanad vote to everyone. Let me remind Senators and the Government that a detailed study on the establishment of an electoral commission has already been conducted by UCD on behalf of the last government. The resultant Sinnott report found that considerable economies of scale could achieved by the merger of the Standards in Public Office Commission, the register of parties, the Constituency Commission and the ad hocReferendum Commission. Establishing and appointing a new referendum commission every time we have a referendum is a very unsatisfactory situation. We have often heard that said on all sides of the House when it comes to a referendum, but I am saying it now when we are not in the process of having a referendum.

The establishment of a permanent independent electoral commission would be in line with best international practice. Out of 156 countries, Ireland is in a minority of 32 whose elections are still managed by government. International evidence shows that an electoral commission could proactively modernise our electoral registry, develop innovative and cost-effective changes in our methods of voting, improve turnout and, most importantly, contribute to a more accessible and engaging democratic process. If we did that, and that infrastructure was moved on, the issue of votes for everyone in the Seanad would be less likely to be put forward as not being cost-effective.

Finally, I look forward to the Leader presenting the Government proposals to the Seanad and CPP as soon as possible. Perhaps he might say a little bit about the matter this evening. I note that the original motion called for a timeframe. Can we have a timeframe?