David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dowd, to the Chamber. I commend Senator Barrett for bringing forward this Bill and allowing us to again discuss the future of the Seanad. Since the referendum of October 2013 we have not had any real reform of the Seanad, which is what people voted for when they went to the polls in the Seanad referendum.

I will not be supporting this Bill. Prior to, during and since the referendum campaign I have been at pains to point out that from my perspective, there is something rotten at the core of the Seanad. What is rotten at the core of the Seanad is how we are all elected, from those elected by city and county councillors through the various panels to the university panels elected by third and fourth level graduates and those appointed by the Taoiseach of the day. I see this as an affront to democracy. For the Seanad to have any future, be representative of the people and be inclusive, we must have a one person, one vote system. The reality is that 99% of the population of this State cannot vote for Senators. This being the case, how then can we expect the public to have any faith or interest in what the Seanad does or in the Senators who represent them? That is not to take away from the good work done by many Senators, including those in my own party and all parties and none and, including those appointed by the Taoiseach on this occasion and by previous Taoisigh.

It was universally accepted during the course of the referendum campaign that the Seanad in its current form had to go. It was also universally accepted that the Seanad in its current form is elitist, undemocratic and unacceptable. I fail to see how retaining the university panels and extending the franchise to additional university graduates is in any way removing the elitist nature of the Seanad. In my view it deepens and copperfastens it and makes it worse. To accept this legislation as a step forward would be for us to not acknowledge that there is something rotten at the core of the Seanad, namely, how we are elected. I cannot go along with half measures or proposed changes that do not deal with the real issue at the heart of the Seanad.

The Minister of State will be aware that Sinn Féin called for the future of the Seanad to be a matter for discussion by the Constitutional Convention, which has completed its work. In my view, the Constitutional Convention did a very good job and came up with solid proposals for the Government to put to the people by way of referendum. There were many issues with which the previous Constitutional Convention was not able to deal because of its remit and the timeframe involved. Given the success of the recent Constitutional Convention - everybody from all parties and none agrees it was a success - there is scope for a second Constitutional Convention to consider the range of issues which could not be considered by the previous one, including reform of the Seanad. I have no doubt that the majority of citizens on a Constitutional Convention would support a one person one vote system.

We also need to ensure that consideration is given to the future of the Seanad in an all-Ireland context. Again, there appeared to be universal acceptance across all parties and none, with a few exceptions, that those resident outside the State, including the Irish diaspora and those living in the North of Ireland, should be able to vote in Seanad elections. This means citizens who live outside this State will have an opportunity to have an input into decision making in this State. Many people would argue that extending the vote in general elections to the Irish diaspora might be a step too far. However, giving them a vote in Seanad elections is a matter worthy of consideration.

There are a number of ways in which we could change the panels.

By their nature, the sectoral panels have not worked. Let us be honest - they have been hijacked by the political parties. Is there any Senator who has not been elected by his or her own party? There has not been a single Independent from the city and county council route - they have all come from the political parties. This will be the case as long as the system remains as is. We could have sectoral panels with a one person, one vote system. The constituencies could be geographical, albeit not as large as those in the European Parliament, which many view as being too large. Instead, we could have four or five geographical constituencies.

Much needs to be done and we cannot accept the Seanad remaining as is, because to do so would be to ensure the continuance of what was wrong. Tinkering around the edges will not be enough. I am sorry that I cannot support Senator Barrett's Bill. I commend him, as he has pushed for genuine reform of the Seanad. He views the Bill as something that would be of value to the State, but it would not, as it would reinforce the Seanad's elitist element, which should be removed.

I am not just focusing on the university seats, as the way in which I was elected should also be scrapped. It should be a one person, one vote system across the board as opposed to the affront to democracy that is the way in which we are currently elected.