John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

However, there has not been much discussion on this in the House tonight and it leaves this wide open to abuse. My biggest concern about a register is to make it safe. We will be embarking on this at the end of this year and we have just had a public consultation on changing the registration process and moving towards a system of using PPS numbers because our existing electoral registers are not exactly as they should be. That is because local authorities do not have rate collectors and the level of knowledge on the ground is not as detailed as it previously was. I see in that loose language a recipe for the potential to abuse the franchise. In that format, it is not something I would be happy to stand over.

Senator Paddy Burke expressed his concerns about the security of the ballot and the costings. How we put a value on democracy is a fair question, as others also said, in particular Senator Dolan. The absence of definitive figures is a drawback of the report. That is not to say it should be the end of things, and I do not believe that further analysis of those figures could not give an approximation of what would actually be yielded if the report and the attached Bill were implemented.

Senator Norris asked about Standing Orders in the House. I have no issue with the reform of Standing Order 41 and the points he made in that regard are valid. On what the Leader said earlier on the questioning of Ministers, it always struck me as strange that, in some respects, the Seanad is ahead of the other House in that, on the Order of Business in this House, there is the freedom to raise what is topical. The only problem is that it is being raised with the Leader, who is not necessarily in a position to give a detailed answer. I know Commencement matters are chosen every day but, certainly, the possibility of having a Seanad where Ministers are questioned more often and in depth by Senators is something I would greatly support.

Senator Mullen made a big thing of the 18 months for the Government. A new Government was formed when Deputy Leo Varadkar became Taoiseach and, within weeks of that, this group was established. The Senator spoke about the Seanad referendum being a grab for political opportunity. I have already stated I did not support it at the ballot box or in other places before that. Interestingly, the Senator also spoke about his opposition to vocational panels and university panels. My view is that we have to try to strike a balance. I am conscious of why the original Seanad was established, namely, to give representation to those alternative voices that Senator McDowell spoke about. The alternative voices now are very different, although they might still be people of minority religious beliefs. Actually, Senator Mullen is now an alternative voice, and whether one agrees with him or not, he is saying something that is not always on the side of the political commentariat that exists.