Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 25:

In page 30, between lines 32 and 33, to insert the following: “(d) to review the electoral system and franchise for Seanad Éireann;”.

This is a really important amendment for the Civil Engagement group. It seeks to include that one of the expressed functions of the electoral commission would be to review the electoral system and franchise for Seanad Éireann.

We have two unfulfilled mandates when it comes to Seanad reform. First, the seventh amendment to the Constitution to allow for the creation of a single six-seat university panel, and, second, and more fundamental, the 2013 referendum where the public voted for reform, and voted for an Upper House in this Oireachtas that is democratically elected. In that referendum, the majority of the electorate, most of whom do not have an entitlement to vote in Seanad elections, placed their faith in the Oireachtas to deliver a reformed Seanad. One of the key slogans of the campaign to save the Seanad was "Open it, Don’t close it". I would say that it is timely to include this in the Electoral Reform Bill but it is not. Timely would have been directly after the 2013 referendum so it is long overdue. This has been a very long time coming but we also have a mandate from 2013.

It is a disgrace that the last Seanad, which was the Twenty-fifth Seanad and only existed by the grace of ordinary voting members of the public of every kind who voted and chose to say that they believed reform is possible, did not deliver that reform. Some parties in government have now been in government longer than the mandate for reform given in 2013. Where is the meaningful action? Members of this House, including my colleague, Senator Higgins, acted in good faith and worked on the Seanad reform implementation group, which produced a report that I hope we have all read, scrutinised and taken on board. That work is there for us all to see and for us to all implement. The report contains agreed legislation by the implementation group to reform the Seanad. To be quite frank, the inclusion of a review of the electoral system in the functions of the commission is the least that the Government can do. The public placed their trust in us to deliver reform and they should be the ones to give the Twenty-seventh Seanad its mandate.

Amendment No. 36 again relates to the issue of Seanad reform. It would include in the provisions for the electoral commission to conduct constituency reviews that they would review the constituencies for election to Seanad Éireann. The amendment seeks to ensure that the commission looks at the Seanad as a political institution. We are all aware that to change the make-up of the panels, excluding the university panels, would require a constitutional amendment made by a referendum. That is why this document is so important. It is a blueprint that has been agreed by all parties on the Seanad reform implementation group to widen the franchise and give every citizen the right to vote for an Upper House. It does not require a referendum.It came out of a negotiation process between parties as an agreed compromise. Most importantly, it could urgently allow for each and every citizen in this country to cast a vote in a Seanad election. The reason I tabled this amendment is about looking more to the long term whereby if we widen the franchise, there may be a need in the future to alter constituencies. The electoral commission should be empowered now to be able to do this.

Amendment No. 40 is also related to the core issue of reforming the Seanad. As we walk in here every day, we see notices about Seanad 100. It is 100 years since the first Seanad sat. We often refer to this building as the people's House, which it is, but the irony is that it is highly likely that any person who walks in to Leinster House, turns left and makes towards the Seanad Chamber will never be able to vote to elect Senators. Forty-three Members of this House are elected by just over 1,000 people. In the case of a by-election, the figure drops to just 220 people. Those 220 people can elect a national representative. This is a bizarre system and 100 years on from the first Seanad, we need to honestly reflect on the fact that only through reform of the franchise can we reform the Seanad. If citizens are still excluded from participating in elections for this House then reform will not be delivered.

This amendment seeks to provide that when preparing a report under the proposed subsection (1)(a)(iii), the Commission will have regard to any alterations to the electoral franchise for a constituency of Seanad Éireann and any alterations to the criteria by which the Taoiseach may nominate a person as a member of Seanad Éireann. It is about preparing the legislation for a time when we have a reformed Seanad in order that the electoral commission can fulfil the functions it needs to fulfil in respect of an open Seanad election and circumstances in which criteria are applied to inform the Taoiseach's decision to appoint Members of Seanad Éireann, as in a provision of the Seanad Bill 2020.

Amendment No. 53 mirrors section 48 of the Seanad Bill 2020 in that it seeks to establish an electoral register to be maintained by the electoral commission in the case of this legislation. Fundamental to the reforms put forward in the Manning report was the recommendation to expand the franchise of Seanad elections so as to include Irish citizens in the State and Irish passport holders abroad as well as persons from Northern Ireland, and also to expand the range of graduates who would be eligible to vote. This will enable members of the public to participate in Seanad elections in a way that has not been permissible before now. It is recognised that conferring more people with a vote will significantly increase the electorate at Seanad elections. The reason I am proposing this amendment, which I will not pressing today in the hope that the Government will come back with constructive amendments on Report Stage, is that if we set up the Seanad electoral register, it will mark a tangible first step in the reform process and that, upon widening the franchise, the register would already be set up to begin the process of voluntary enrolment for people who want to vote in Seanad elections.

Amendment No. 54 is one I hope the Minister of State will accept because it is not asking for much, especially in the context of the promises that have been delivered in this Bill. The amendment seeks a report within 12 months of the passing of this legislation outlining the measures that have been taken to reform the electoral franchise for the vocational panels of Seanad Éireann, the electoral franchise for the university constituencies of Seanad Éireann and the criteria applied to the nomination of Members of Seanad Éireann under Article 18 of the Constitution.

I will speak briefly to the issue of Taoiseach's nominees to the Seanad as we have not spoken to that issue much yet today. The Seanad Bill 2020 seeks to provide guidance to the Taoiseach on making nominations to the Seanad, specifically that the nominees should improve the gender balance and diversity in Seanad Éireann and ensure a sufficient level of representation of persons who are concerned with the rights of minorities in Irish society. I have spoken already about the vocational panels. I fully support the implementation of the seventh amendment to the Constitution to give all graduates a vote in Seanad elections. This cannot be done in isolation, however. If only graduates are eligible to vote, the system will still be unjust. We need to urgently reform the vocational panels. I urge the Minister of State to accept this amendment because it is the least the Government can do given its failure time and again to do anything meaningful to reform the House's electoral franchise.