Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support this Bill.I am pleased the Government has decided to introduce an amendment to include the Local Authority Members Association, LAMA, as a nominating body. Senator Wilson in particular will be very happy with that.

The need for reform of the Seanad is well known by all now, and the Leader has twice brought the group that prepared the report for the Taoiseach on reform into the Seanad for debate. In time I know that will move forward and that the Leader himself has committed to moving that forward, so I know that will happen. We should be proud of this Bill, together with the Bill introduced by Senator Wilson last week, to make as democratic a job as we can of Seanad elections, given the constraints we currently work under.

I speak with pride of the two organisations that are included. There are county councillors all over this country who work day and night. As Senator Wilson has just pointed out, they are out on the highways and byways at the moment with flooded fields and property, packing sandbags outside houses in Limerick, Athlone, the village of Craughwell and Bandon in Cork. Nobody wants to take a camera to them and see what they are doing. Nobody wants to interview them and ask them what they were doing at 3 o'clock this morning when they were out trying to save property and people.

I have serious concerns. I wish to inform the House that I have written to the RTE Authority today to lodge a formal complaint about the programme on Monday night. I do not for one moment defend any form of corruption but it is my understanding that a number of councillors who were approached by the programme, which was ten months in the making, were unwilling to participate in any way once they heard money was being put on the table. RTE did not publish that fact, which is seriously remiss of the programme-----