Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Like everyone else, I welcome the three former Senators. One of the things that disappoints me about the report is that it does not recommend that Senators, once elected, would retain their titles, as is the case in America. I cannot understand why that very important, fundamental issue was omitted. That would give one the respect, dignity and status one requires. God knows, it is difficult enough to get into this House.

Of course I welcome this report in general. It is a basis for debate and discussion. However, there is a certain naivety regarding the timetable for implementation, which has been lauded by some people. As the Chief Whip and others have pointed out, the original recommendation to extend the franchise to the university panels goes back to 1979 and despite the fact the Government announced it would implement this following the Seanad referendum, it still has not happened. It raises fundamental issues about the practicalities of this expanded electorate.

I also share a similar concern to that expressed by Senator Norris, although not in the same context as he sees himself as being elite and I do not doubt he is. He is a person apart in that regard for whom we all have great affection and regard. However, I take exception to the reference to "little substance in practice" regarding vocational representation, which Dr. Manning repeated. With some exceptions in all parties, the majority of Senators during my time in the House, like myself, took their responsibilities very seriously. I represented the Library Association of Ireland for a long time and currently represent the National Association of Regional Game Councils. I have been involved in the minutiae of legislation with my nominating body and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, as I was in the past with the Library Association of Ireland. There will always be a cohort of Senators elected to this House through the nomination process who will have Dáil ambitions and who will not take account of the responsibilities that have been given to them by the nominating body.I also blame the nominating bodies themselves. I conducted a short telephone survey prior to the Seanad referendum of a number of nominating bodies. I will mention one of them because I was astonished at its reply. It told me it would not get involved actively or participate in the Seanad referendum despite the fact that it was a nominating body because as it said "it was not a political organisation". That body was the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland, ASTI,-----