Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Why was it not changed since 1979 when the referendum was held? This Government changed it. We cannot have an election if there is no electorate or register, so work must be carried out on it.

With regard to the Bill before us, the amendment proposed is good and welcome. However, work must be done on it. As this House has specialist legislative oversight, it makes sense that its Members should be elected by a broader structure in a by-election. I understand the Senator's intent and I welcome it wholeheartedly for a by-election. The city and county councillors are involved in the election of Senators so why would they not be involved in the by-elections as well? The current system denies this franchise to councillors in by-elections. This means that the House structure is skewed with two different types of electorate for the two electoral processes. However, the Bill we passed regarding the university franchise contained a recommendation that the filling of casual vacancies would be done in the same way as happens with the European Parliament-----