Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the Order of Business Members questioned the fact that we were only discussing the heads of the Bill and wondered why we would not have the Bill before us. When the Taoiseach came into the House following the referendum, he gave an undertaking that he would bring the heads of the Bill before the House and the Joint Committee on the Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht. We are honouring that commitment by having this discussion.

The intent of the Bill is to give effect to the wishes of the people who decided in 1979 that all third level graduates should have a vote and it has taken until now for a Government to take action in that regard. We will never know why that happened. The logistics of the change will prove difficult as we need to find out the number registered in each third level institution because under the Constitution they must be written to by registered letter to be eligible to vote for Members on the university panels.

Senator Sean D. Barrett has also published a Bill in respect of the university franchise and suggests a number of seats should be allocated to the universities on the Culture and Education Panel. I am not sure what the constitutional position is in that regard and whether that would be possible, but I am sure it will be examined in the coming weeks and months.

I pay tribute to the role TCD and NUI Senators have played. They have in the past played an important role and made excellent contributions, as have the current Senators on these panels. However, they are democrats and would wish their electorate to be increased, if that is the wish of the people and it was the case in 1979. It will be a much larger electorate - probably between 700,00 and 800,000 - which will be difficult to canvass for candidates. Candidates from TCD which has a smaller electorate than other universities and panels will probably feel their chances of being elected will be lower than heretofore, but I cannot go along with this because university graduates, irrespective of which college they qualify from, will vote for the people they think will best represent their wishes in the House. The cream will always rise to the top and I have no doubt that, based on the contributions university panel Members have made during this term and given their qualifications, they will be viewed positively by whatever number of graduates decide their fate in the next election.

The Government has made it clear that this is the only legislative change that will be made during its term. It has made a number of proposals regarding procedures which I have forwarded to the Cathaoirleach to be discussed at the next meeting of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. It will probably take a number of meetings for us to make decisions on the changes to procedures and Standing Orders. The Government parties are, therefore, serious about reforming the House and the way we do our business and are acting on the wishes of the people by enacting legislation to give effect to the 1979 referendum result.

I welcome the debate we have had on the heads of the Bill and we will have a more in-depth discussion when the Bill is taken in the House. There will be even greater contributions from all Senators on that issue. Members elected to the university panels will be affected most and other Members will listen to them, but graduates, irrespective of the institution from which they qualify, will vote for the best people they believe will represent their views in the House. I look forward to making a further contribution when the Bill is published and introduced in the House.