John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

When I made my acceptance speech in Seanad Éireann in 2011, I stated that I would never again run for the Seanad under the existing electoral system, which I described as an affront to democracy. It was, is and remains an affront to democracy. It is unacceptable that we still have not had Seanad reform. We recently had a statement from the Taoiseach, two years after the referendum campaign, saying that we would not have Seanad reform. There is something seriously wrong here and I do not believe it is ever going to happen unless people push to make it happen.

I and others have proposed Seanad reform Bills which were well thought out and argued. Some would agree with some of them, while others would disagree. The reality is, however, that they were an attempt to do what we promised, which was to try to reform the Seanad.

I am not trying to be disruptive - I have done the arithmetic and I know that another vote is coming through today - but I am probably adding an extra four minutes to the business of a busy day by calling for a second vote. I second the proposal by my colleague Senator Norris to amend the Order of Business such that item No. 52 be taken before item No. 1.

It is wrong that Bills get through two Stages and are then allowed to die. It is a pyrrhic victory. If the Government wishes to oppose my Bill, which I know it does, I would ask as a courtesy that it give us 30 minutes for a Committee Stage debate. There are no amendments tabled for Committee Stage of the Bill, which has been on the books for two years. It is quite clear that nobody is ever going to introduce any amendments. That is because the way business gets done around here is based on "Ah sure, that fellow will be happy that it got through two Stages, even though it died on the Order Paper of the Oireachtas." That is dishonest, however, and it is not why I proposed the Bill. I proposed that it either be passed or defeated. I would like to see it passed or defeated.For that reason, I will persist in asking that we try to get it on the Order Paper either by seeking an amendment to the Order of Business on a daily basis or by having the Government agree to allowing Committee Stage to proceed at a mutually suitable time. In truth, the least we owe to democracy is that we actually try to stand by our principles.