Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

From my perspective, the Bill is a genuine attempt to bring about the start of the reform of the Seanad and deal with the Supreme Court judgment. Senators mentioned the programme for Government and I discussed this with Senator McDowell a number of years ago when we met virtually during Covid. The programme for Government, Our Shared Future, does not make an explicit commitment to the issue of Seanad reform. I respect this House. I had the honour of serving in this House for five years. I see the benefits of a bicameral system and an active Seanad. We have seen that in this Seanad term with the legislation that I have brought here, including the 25 hours of debate in the House on the planning Bill, and the Seanad has had a value on many other pieces of legislation.

I wish Senator Clonan's son, Eoghan, all the very best in his studies. What this legislation will do, as all Senators will know, is extend the franchise further. I have taken on board the points raised. Several Senators mentioned the private universities but that is not something that will be included in this Bill. I expect the House will debate it and I will look at the amendments that are tabled. I assure Members that when amendments are tabled, we will certainly look at them in a constructive way. On the planning Bill, which passed the Dáil last night, amendments that I made on Report and Final Stages made reference to matters that were raised in the Seanad. I have done that regularly on legislation that I brought forward, and I have had the honour of sponsoring over 30 Bills and bringing them through these Houses. I have also initiated legislation in the Seanad.

I will try to deal with the questions asked. In response to Senator Maria Byrne, the higher education constituency will be in place for all Seanad elections after 21 March 2025, so the next Seanad election will be under the current structures and criteria and these changes will not apply to the next Seanad election. Voting will be by postal vote.

There will be a requirement for reregistration. I listened to Senator McDowell say that if one were to write out to seek to get people to reregister, many of the addresses would be invalid and people might have moved on. In that case, I would question the validity of the current register.