Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Taoiseach to the House on this auspicious day, Lá Fhéile Bríde, St. Brigid's Day, as he said. I thank him for coming to the House today. I was delighted to be present for his speech. I apologise that could not be here throughout the debate. Senators McFadden and Higgins and I are involved in a symposium today for St. Brigid's Day on the centenary of women's suffrage in the Royal Irish Academy as part of our Vótáil 100 programme. I will speak about that shortly but, first, today, on 1 February, as a woman and as a mother of two young daughters, I thank the Taoiseach for his commitment to holding a referendum on the eighth amendment this summer. I listened to his words on Monday night and I was extremely moved to hear him and the Ministers, Deputies Harris and Zappone, speak so eloquently about the need for this referendum. I am one of the voters who, albeit rather older than the Taoiseach, was too young to vote in 1983, 35 years ago, but all my adult life has been spent under the chill of the eighth amendment. As a Trinity graduate, the Taoiseach will know that in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Trinity Students' Union officers, including myself, and UCD Students' Union officers were taken to court and threatened with prison under the eighth amendment because we were providing information on abortion to women in crisis pregnancy. That was a very powerful experience for me because we were being rung up every day by women in crisis pregnancy throughout Ireland who could only approach students' unions, which were then the only bodies openly offering information on where to obtain legal abortion services in Britain. Since that time, I have been involved in the campaign for repeal and I am very optimistic that we will see both the referendum this summer, as the Taoiseach has said, but also that it will be successful and that we will at last be able to legislate. I look forward to canvassing with the Taoiseach, colleagues from all parties and Independent colleagues on the eighth amendment. A May date is essential to ensure maximum turnout. The students' movement has led on this issue. It is hugely important that we facilitate as large a number of students as possible to vote.

Second, on the day that is in it, I want to speak in my capacity as chairperson of the Vótáil 100 steering committee, which is organising the series of events here in Leinster House to mark the centenary of women's suffrage. The symposium at the Royal Irish Academy is the first of those events. We had a very successful launch on Tuesday of the fuller programme of events which, as the Taoiseach will know, includes an exhibition here in Leinster House in the summer of artefacts and materials from the suffrage campaign, including the Votes for Women banner donated by the Sheehy-Skeffington family. I want to thank the Cathaoirleach and the Ceann Comhairle for the immense support they have given to our programme.

One key aspect of the programme will be on 28 February, that is, the presentation by ourselves, the Ceann Comhairle and the Cathaoirleach to the House of Commons in Westminster of a portrait of Constance Markievicz. It will be the first time the Westminster Parliament has acknowledged formally the status of Markievicz as the first woman MP to be elected to Westminster, albeit she did not take up her seat. Interestingly, until now, as the Taoiseach will know, the only woman formally celebrated as a pioneer in Westminster is Nancy Astor, so this will mark an important moment in our relations with Britain, and it comes at a time when we are facing into these extremely difficult negotiations. As a member of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade, we have met some of our counterparts.We met the Select Committee on Exiting the European Union, chaired by Hilary Benn, MP, and have done our best, on a cross-party basis, on the Seanad Special Committee on the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and on another Oireachtas committees, to emphasise to MPs from Britain whom we have met just how immensely detrimental the impact to us in Ireland will be of Brexit, particularly a hard Brexit. Only this morning, the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade heard that negative prognosis being offered by the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce representatives who spoke powerfully about how devastating they see Brexit being for trade between the two islands.

The Taoiseach does not need any urging to ensure that we will see as soft a Brexit as possible if it is to happen. I was among the many who emphasised to Hilary Benn and others, that many of us in Ireland think Britain can run a second referendum. Clearly, that is a matter for them, but there seems to be increasing popular support in Britain for that. Our own experience in Ireland is that a referendum is not necessarily a final say on some issues. We will certainly keep pressing that point and assisting in any way we can in the negotiations on Brexit from the Irish perspective.

The last issue I want to raise with the Taoiseach is, like the eighth amendment, one he touched on in is own speech, namely, the issue of the Seanad and Seanad reform. I thank the Taoiseach for his kind words about the incredibly important contribution so many Senators have made over the years to Irish society. In particular, if I may say, Trinity Senators and NUI Senators. The Taoiseach is correct in saying the true role of the Seanad is as a check on and balance to the Dáil. Clearly, that is constitutionally a different role to that of the Dáil, which keeps the check on the Government.

In 2014, I made a submission on behalf of Labour Party Senators to the committee chaired by the former Senator, Dr. Maurice Manning. We regretted that so few submissions were made at the time by serving or former Senators. I am glad to hear the Taoiseach state that he will establish a Seanad committee. I hope we will see significant Seanad representation on that committee because many Members of the Dáil who have never served in the Seanad really do not understand the procedures which are rather different or, indeed, the culture in the Seanad which tends to be more collegiate where we have our committee debates in the full Chamber, etc. It is important that the Seanad would be well represented on that committee. I will certainly be making that point within my own party and I hope others will too. I welcome the announcement that the Government is keen to implement the Manning report.

There are some aspects of that report that need to be worked on. I am glad to hear the Taoiseach state he favours the expansion of the university electorate. Clearly, that is not controversial because that was already decided on by the people. However, there are a few other more difficult issues.

On the issue of the panels, if people will be entitled to decide which panel they wish to opt for, we have to make a decision on what university graduates will do because clearly it would be wrong in a reformed Seanad to have university graduates enabled to vote on both the university panel and one other. Of course, this is looking at legislative reform without constitutional change. In my party's submission, we suggested that university graduates should be able to opt for a vote on the university panel or one of the other panels. We recommended the national language, cultural and literature panel as an alternative panel so that one would not have a double enfranchisement for university graduates. I am conscious that we currently do. Currently, university graduates who have a degree from both NUI and Trinity have two votes. A Seanad, reformed through legislation not constitutional change, could address that.

Similarly, my party suggested reserving the right to elect one panel, the public administration panel, to city and county council members to preserve the existing link with local government. I note the Taoiseach states he wants to see that link preserved. How we do that is essential.

Finally, we also recommended that powers of nomination should be extended beyond the existing nomination bodies, and that could be done without constitutional change. For example, we could have popular nomination by 500 persons on the Seanad electoral register. We recommended also that Seanad elections should take place on the same day as the election for the Dáil. It would be constitutionally permissible. It would require some thought about how we define postal elections but I think that can be done within the parameters of the Constitution. It would certainly ensure that the Seanad does not continue as a mini-Dáil. It would break the direct link between Dáil and Seanad elections.

The principle of universal suffrage is the essentially important one that needs to be introduced. It does not require constitutional reform. I would urge the Taoiseach to use the local election register as an appropriate register for that. That would differentiate the Seanad electorate from the Dáil electorate. It would enfranchise more people than are currently enfranchised to vote in Dáil elections.