Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support the Bill which is very important. Seanad reform has been spoken about for as long as I have been involved in politics, and longer. I have been involved in politics for almost 15 years and we have talked about Seanad reform in many ways. This is the first time we will see real Seanad reform, which has to be welcomed.

The biggest issue for the general public is how this can relate what they do during a normal day. That is a challenge for everybody who sits in the House. How can we make sure that what we are doing here will affect the people? Will they take note of the fact that we have increased the electorate? I do not know whether they will. The real challenge for us as parliamentarians is trying to convey what we are doing here to the public. I do not think increasing the electorate will do that. We have to look at ourselves and reform of the House, and how the House will reform. We need to address matters such as the number of sitting days, what we do, how we reform what we are involved in and what meaningful contribution we can make to the general public. That is the real challenge and debate that has to happen at some stage.

An Upper House has to take power and responsibility, which must then affect what is happening in the real lives of everybody. Today's debate involved academics and Members such as Senator Feighan, who has a background in small business, have contributed. I am a farmer, a fact of which I am proud. When people ask me what I do, I tell them I milk cows for a living. That is my real job.

I have been in the Chamber for the past two or three months and have raised farming issues on a continual basis. I was elected on an agricultural platform, through the agriculture panel. I was nominated through the Munster Agricultural Society. In my view, that was why I was elected. The panels need to be protected because they give a voice to various sectors. The Parliament can give a voice to every sector. It is a unique situation to have 60 parliamentarians in the Chamber, all of whom bring their own knowledge, experience and values to the Chamber. We need to protect that because the intermingling of ideas and views can make a change. The big issue is making a change after discussions have been held. Once all of the views have been taken on board, Ministers and the Government can then make policies that suit the public. At some stage we will have to tackle that real change.

The views of councillors were mentioned. I was a member of Cork County Council for 13 years - I was elected at 26 years of age. Public representatives deal with issues, which they then bring to me and, in turn, I can bring them to the floor of the Chamber. Yesterday, I raised the lack of funding for major infrastructural projects, which was debated in the chamber of Cork County Council on Monday. There has been movement regarding funding, a matter I raised because public representatives told me it was a major issue for Cork. I had the opportunity to ask the Minister what he was doing about it.

Today, 43 of us are elected through the councillor system. It has its faults, but we have to protect that line of communication. The number of Senators elected by councillors might be amended, but 13 is insufficient and will not work because we need to have a line of communication. In many ways, this is about connecting people in local areas to the big machine in Dublin. That is the real challenge the Chamber has to take on board in the years ahead.

I support the Bill. It is necessary. In my short term as a Senator, I have found that unless we change we will no longer be attached to the public. That is the real issue. I welcome the debate. We will have to tease out key issues, and I look forward to that process. Things have to happen fast. The last thing we want is another report or review or to kick the can down the road. We need to make a decision, move forward and take the people with us.