Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. In the context of political reform, if legislation that everyone agrees should be passed and is in the public interest does not happen, one cannot then state that political reform has genuinely taken place. There is no point in having 60 Bills per month coming through the Dáil if, when amendments are required, there is no impetus for civil servants actually to prepare those amendments. Even in the case of Senator Quinn's Bill on subcontractors, it took two successive Governments for it to be processed. That would be real reform, and I will cite the Chief Whip back to himself on a matter of which I know he is aware. He stated that in respect of statutory instruments which are laid before the House, he does not believe Members even read what statutory instruments are laid. An enormous amount of statutory instruments are laid before the House. In a given year, there could be 594 statutory instruments, 164 EU directives and 129 EU regulations, versus 47 Acts of the Oireachtas. This is where the problem is - that is, all those European Union directives and regulations and statutory instruments that simply are signed in. I refer to the example from August 2013 when this House was recalled in respect of a statutory instrument that was the first legislative item in the history of the State pertaining to organ donation. It was signed into Irish law, the amendments having been made by the Minister and the civil servants. Those amendments were not seen by the Whip himself, the Government or the health committee, yet there it was. It was the first legislation in the history of the State on organ donation but no one in this House or the Dáil or any committee saw it. Moreover, this happens nearly 600 times per year, in contrast to Acts of the Oireachtas, on which Members spend huge amounts of time. For those who proposed in the referendum that the Seanad should be abolished and that this House was beyond reform, the reform being proposed in respect of the electorate is an absolute insult to the Republic. As has been pointed out, in a reformed Seanad it is a disgrace to say "one degree, one vote". It is absolutely appalling that only those who went to third level may be allowed to vote in elections to a reformed Seanad.

The EU has highlighted Ireland, the United Kingdom, Malta, Greece and Cyprus as the only five countries out of the 33 member states of the Council of Europe which do not afford votes to their citizens living abroad. We are addressing that issue by accident in that if a citizen who lives in Australia happens to have a degree from Trinity, he or she will be able to vote. An Irish electrician who lives in Australia will not have a vote, however.