Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Seanad Éireann is a lovely place to celebrate a birthday. I compliment Senator Diarmuid Wilson on initiating this very good Bill, which has received a tremendous reaction from councillors who are absolutely delighted they are being recognised in this fashion, and rightly so. To do otherwise would seem totally illogical. It would be like excluding the electorate in a by-election where all the electorate have a say in the election of a candidate to fill a seat that is vacated. For example, it would exclude the very electorate that voted for Senator Jimmy Harte on the industrial and commercial panel and elected him to this House, where he served extremely well and was a very popular Senator until he resigned for health reasons - we wish him well. Senator Máiría Cahill has been elected in a proper, democratic way.

The purpose of the Bill is that this franchise would be extended to the 967 councillors throughout the country. I believe they would add to the campaign in that the candidates would have to put their case to the councillors, as well as to the Deputies and Senators. I commend Senator Wilson for initiating the Bill. I also compliment the Leader, Senator Maurice Cummins, who persuaded the Government to support the Bill on Second Stage. That is a very wise and fair decision, which is what I would expect from the Leader as he has been very progressive in this regard. He played a very decisive role in regard to the referendum on the abolition of Seanad Éireann, rightly so. I believe that proposal was an error. It was a political judgment at the time. It was, I suppose, politically advantageous to the Government and perhaps to Sinn Féin, which supported it, although they are now very keen to get into the Seanad and will probably have more Members after the next general election and Seanad election.

Having served in government, like the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, I have been in that seat on many occasions and brought numerous pieces of legislation through this House during my term. I had absolute respect for every Member of this House and I must say the contributions made here were far more incisive and constructive than those in the Dáil. The Members in the Dáil were too busy but the Senators took tremendous interest in the legislation. I believe the Minister of State would agree Ministers are put through their paces here and they have to be on the ball. The officials are very close by, compared to the Dáil, where the officials are not quite as close to the other Members of the House and, as they are also close to the Ministers, they have an opportunity for a quick chat in regard to the amendments being put forward.

I believe this is a very worthwhile innovation from Senator Wilson. This Seanad has been a very active and progressive one. That is a compliment to the Leader of the House, Senator Maurice Cummins, the leader on this side, Senator Darragh O'Brien, and all the Members, including the Independents, among whom Senator Craughwell has made a great contribution since joining. Even when listening to the debate between Members today on the environment and other issues, I thought it very worthwhile, and I compliment the Minister of State on accepting amendments to the Bill.

As far as reform is concerned, as one who worked in the Seanad as a Minister of State and brought legislation through the House, I never saw any great need to reform it. I think the House is a very tight ship, with 60 Members, and it has tremendous balance. I would make the point that the Taoiseach and the then Labour Party leader, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, after the last election selected a very broad church and a very independent group of 11 Members who, I believe, have made a major contribution to this House. It was very innovative on the Taoiseach's part that he filled those 11 seats in that way, although there is nothing wrong with nominated party members and there would have been a lot of disappointment in that regard. Nonetheless, it was felt there was a need to bring new blood into the House, and I believe that has proved successful. The Whip, Senator Paul Coghlan, may not appreciate it at times when he is dealing with such an independent group of people, because it makes his job of trying to keep a majority in the House that bit more difficult.

This is a good Bill and a step in the right direction. I want to wish all the outgoing candidates success, including myself.

Senator Norris has consistently decried the panel system as a kind of rotten borough and a fixI am on the labour panel along with Senators Maurice Cummins and Ned O'Sullivan. We three were nominated by the professional associations. I wish all candidates and outgoing Senators every success in the Seanad election, as well as those Senators running for the Lower House in the general election on 11 March 2016.