Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire. Caithfidh mé a rá go bhfuil díomá orm go bhfuil muid ag plé na ceiste seo inniu. Cé gur ceist thábhachtach í, ní dóigh liom go bhfuil sí chomh h-ard sin ar liosta na dtosaíochtaí againn. I believe we are doing ourselves no favours in the Seanad by scheduling items such as this. I do not think it is as high on the list of priorities as other issues on which we have called for debates. What are we marking with these statements? It is an obscure event that happened 750 years ago which, I believe, is wrongly described as the first Irish parliament. There was no such thing. It was a meeting of the English colonisers who occupied the shrinking Pale, a century after the Anglo-Norman invasion of Ireland. These were the descendants of the robber barons and their followers who attempted to grab Ireland for their own profit and for the English Crown. A century later, in 1366, they would hold another so-called parliament and try to impose the Statutes of Kilkenny, a medieval form of apartheid, designed to hold back the Irish language and Gaelic culture which was undermining their colony, because many in the Pale had, by then, begun to regard themselves as Irish and preferred Irish ways and Irish laws to those imported from England.

No disrespect to the people of Castledermot, but I believe the attempt to elevate this event in 1264 is a poor effort and unhistoric. Yet, the Seanad has had no statements on the centenary of the 1913 Lock-out. It has had no statements on the founding of the Irish Citizen Army, the founding of the Irish Volunteers and the founding of Cumann na mBan, all of which occurred in the past year. We need to do our business better here and they should have been commemorated properly. We should never forget that it was the plain people of Ireland through centuries of the struggle and endurance, to which we owe our freedom, and not some land-owning aristocrats who people would seek to honour today. The bottom line is that there was no democracy in Ireland until the Irish people took it for themselves.

The real and pressing issue we should be discussing today is reform or the lack thereof of our political system. In October 2013, the Government's referendum proposal to abolish the Seanad was rejected by the people. However, all participants and parties involved in the referendum campaign were clear in saying that the Seanad, in its current form, is elitist, undemocratic and unacceptable. The result cannot be viewed as a vote to return the Seanad in its present form and piecemeal reforms are not enough. It should be fundamentally redesigned to better serve the people. The Seanad must become a fully inclusive, representative and accountable institution. This requires direct election by way of universal franchise for all Irish citizens on the same day as the Dáil vote, Northern and diaspora representation, 50% women members and representation of marginalised minority groups within Irish society. For the Seanad to truly fulfil its potential of acting as a balancing function in the Oireachtas, its powers must be increased and it must also have a distinct and complementary role and functions that do not merely replicate those of the Dáil in a weaker form.

To best represent the general public interest and reflect the priority of public accountability in decision-making, the Seanad should also act as a forum for dialogue between the many interests in Irish society, ensuring the inclusion of those sectors with less power and influence. It should use public consultation and deliberative democracy for enhanced citizen participation. The Seanad should also include the representation of regional interests on a non-population basis to redress the power and balance for those currently marginalised by reason of residence in the North, the west, Gaeltacht areas and the diaspora.

Sinn Féin believes in one person, one vote and the universal franchise. We need a properly reformed Seanad that is democratic, accountable and egalitarian and works in the best interests of good governance. Piecemeal cosmetic change reinforces elitism, to which we need to bring an end. Extending the vote to everyone is the first step towards real reform. We need a parliamentary system that is genuinely accountable and transparent.

It is also important to note the anti-democratic contraction of local government under this Government, with part-time councillors covering large areas, a significant reduction in the number of councillors and the removal of decision making from local communities, which is a retrograde move. The community and voluntary sector has seen savage cuts. However much we may wish to delude ourselves today with this nonsensical debate, the fact is that we have yet to create a free Republic in which all people are treated with respect and dignity and where justice and equality are embedded in the body politic.