Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Senator Byrne for bringing forward this Bill, for his work in that respect, and indeed his commitment to the ideals that he has set out. In recent days we have listened to our friends across the pond in the United States and how their Government is not listening to the will of the people by facilitating and authorising the President-elect's transition team to commence its work. We laugh and scoff at their antics. The debate tonight shows that we have little to be scoffing at, given that there have been 16 governments in this State since the passing of the seventh amendment in 1979. Sixteen administrations have failed to implement the will of the people as expressed in a referendum that was passed with a 92% "Yes" vote and where more than half a million people voted in the affirmative, and yet 41 years later we have had no movement.

It might not be or have been the most important thing on the agenda of this Government or that of any of the 15 previous governments, but it goes to the very heart of democracy in this country if the express will of the people is going unimplemented for 41 years. Furthermore, it makes a mockery of the much-discussed issue of Seanad reform. One wonders if we will ever reach such utopia if a simple Bill like this cannot be implemented. It is, of course, inherently unfair that only graduates of Trinity and the NUI can receive a vote in Seanad elections and that those from DCU, UL and institutes of technology do not, 18,229 of whom graduated last year, as Senator Byrne has outlined. I know that the programme for Government does commit to electoral reform and that there will be electoral commission forthcoming. I am not too sure, though, if this is within its remit.

I do welcome the electoral reform commission, however, something that I think is very positive. I hope that when it is implemented, we will eventually see the cleaning up of our electoral registers for Dáil elections. Again, many have tut-tutted at the claims of fraudulent practices in the US. They do not have to look that far to see the potential for fraudulent practices. The potential to abuse our system as it stands is huge, such as polling cards being issued to tenants or homeowners who have long moved on from their last registered address. Our practices are rife for abuse because of the outdated methods we have, and the need to embrace modern technology when it comes to elections in this country is pressing.

I said it during the last term, I said it recently on the Order of Business and I am saying it now directly to the Minister of State. I hope he will look seriously at the concept of online voting using secure portals. We can do it for the payment of taxation in this country. To raise the taxes to fund this country, the Revenue Commissioners use such portals. We can do it with voting as well, whether by using the PPS number to access a secure online voting portal or whatever. The Bill before us is not complicated and rights a wrong by giving our graduates their entitlement to vote in the Upper House elections. Of course, if we had true reform, there would be a phrase that should not be issued within these hallowed walls then everyone in this country would have a vote in the Seanad elections. In 2018 I was a member of the Seanad reform implementation group, chaired expertly by Senator McDowell. Despite the efforts of the former Minister, Mr. Ross, to thwart his election as chairman, I am proud he was chairman. He chaired it expertly and brought together many different strands. He produced a magnificent body of work by Christmas 2018. Shamefully, it took the then Minister a further year to come into the Houses to debate something on which cross-party discussion had taken place in the compilation of that report. There was no effort whatsoever to embrace reform.

During those sessions I argued strongly for the election of Seanad Members by full popular vote of all the citizens on the same day as the Dáil general election. Not surprisingly, not too many people supported my proposition at the implementation group, but Senator McDowell gave me a very fair hearing and we had some very good exchanges. Theresa Reidy came in to brief us on issues such as that and allowing citizens who are abroad to vote, as did Joe O'Toole. Before anyone thinks it is totally mad, Senator McDowell informed me that we actually had an election of the Seanad by full popular vote in 1925 across a single 15-seat constituency made up of the entire State.

As I said, I lost that particular debate at the reform committee, but I look forward to revisiting it as part of the wider debate. For now, I am happy to have my name on the Bill and to second the proposal by Senator Byrne. It is very worthwhile legislation which shows our commitment to wanting to advance proper reform of this House and its membership by empowering our citizens. I also look forward to engaging with the Minister of State on electoral reform.