Aisling Dolan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, who has responsibility for heritage and electoral reform. I support the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020 that has been brought forward by my colleagues, Senators Malcolm Byrne, Pat Casey and Shane Cassells. We are very fortunate to have experts such as the Senators who have spoken ahead of us, nominated through the Seanad university panels. Everybody here in the Seanad brings different perspectives and value. We all add to the informed debate in this Chamber.

Currently, only graduates from NUI colleges – NUI Galway, UCD and UCC - and TCD can vote for university panel Senators. Students with qualifications from the new technological universities, such as the proposed Connacht Ulster alliance, cannot vote for these positions. They would also give a regional perspective. Currently, we have two universities from Dublin. I am not exactly sure how much regional perspective there is, although I know many people from across the country also attend those universities.

As has been indicated by Senator Cassells, it is more than 40 years, 1979, since people voted in favour of a referendum to extend voting rights to all graduates. On that occasion, 92% of people voted "Yes" to the seventh amendment to the Constitution, allowing the State to determine by law which institutions of higher education would be entitled to elect Members of the Seanad.

In 2014, the then Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, appointed a working group to examine and make recommendations on reforms to the Seanad electoral system, its powers and functions. As Senator Bacik mentioned, the group was chaired by then Senator Maurice Manning. The working group on Seanad reform included former Leaders of the Seanad, former Ministers and academics. In 2016 a campaign called Graduate Equality was launched by Marian O'Donnell of the University of Limerick, UL, students' union, Lysette Golden of the Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT, students' union, and Domhnaill Harkin of DCU students' union. These students came together to ask why their vote did not count, why their degree was worth less than others and why the Government was undermining the value of their degree. The current inequality among third level graduates is unfounded and unfair.

In the current system the turnout is low. It is roughly 30%. That could be linked to the challenges with the electoral registers, as mentioned by Senator Byrne. We need to increase our impact and visibility on the work that we do in the Seanad. We need to show our country the value that we bring to developing policies and legislation. That impacts on every single man, woman and child in this State.

Graduates want their voices heard. They want to see the reform that was promised after the Seanad was saved from abolition. This Bill paves the way for the reform of the Seanad. We need to make it more accessible and inclusive for all.

It is noted that the Minister will decide which institutes or students are eligible. We are looking at graduates in particular with NFQ level 6, diploma level, which means we are opening it up to institutes of technology and universities. I also call for the inclusion and the focus on further education to reflect our aims in this Government, in particular given that we have established a new Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, and we are looking at putting those on an equal footing.

I would also like to ensure that funding from the Department allows for the administration of these panels. We have heard about the challenges with the electoral registers. I am happy to hear from Senator Byrne about his focus on bringing this into the digital age. I would encourage that as well. As far as I am aware, the current system is postal and many ballots are returned unfilled. It is understandable that it is difficult to keep the register up to date as people change address. That is understandable.Currently, the university franchise is 177,000 voters. With this Bill, we will be increasing it to 800,000 citizens. I want to see Seanad reform. This is just the very first step. With this Bill, we are fulfilling the amendment to open up voting to all third level institutes. I thank my colleagues for bringing the Bill forward. It is really important that we do this as soon as possible. With the Minister of State's remit over electoral reform, I know this will be a priority for him as well.