Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I too welcome delegation from Stormont who have arrived for an important discussion on electoral reform of this Chamber.There is nothing politicians like to talk about more than electoral reform and changes to the operation of politics and so on, but this is a piece of reform that is long overdue. I doubt there are a few in this House that would even remember the referendum in 1979 on the seventh amendment of the Constitution which provided for changes that would allow an expansion of the franchise for university graduates. I thank the Minister and his officials for working on this, but it is wrong that the State failed to act on the decision of the public in the referendum over this long period of time. Year after year governments failed to take action. The Minister referenced the Bill that I and colleagues brought forward in this House. It is a pity Tomás Heneghan had to take a case as far as the Supreme Court to force the Government to take action on that. I commend him on so doing, but it is critical we now enact this legislation and do it before this Oireachtas concludes. It should be seen, I hope, as part of a broader and more fundamental reform of the Seanad. It should not just be seen as one element and there are other things I would love to see happen to reform the House, but this specifically deals with addressing the question of the university graduate panels.

I welcome that we are moving to a single six-seat panel. This might be more appropriate on Committee Stage, but we might have some debate about where the Bill talks about the institutions being designated institutions under the Higher Education Authority Act. I am concerned, for instance, that those who hold degrees from the National College of Ireland or some private institutions that award level 8 degrees recognised by the State may not be included within this. It may also be appropriate to debate whether graduates of universities in the North could be included as part of this legislation as well. I appreciate there may be some complications to doing that, but it is certainly something worthy of consideration. I welcome that it will streamline much of the process when it comes to the management of this election because one of the difficulties for the NUI and Trinity has been maintaining the databases of electors. It has always been my view that if people are graduates they should opt in and request their ballot because it will reduce cost to the State.

I noticed a particular innovation, which is the introduction of the list system for casual vacancies. The Minister will be aware there is a vacancy in this House already. There would be an enormous cost for holding that election for what would be a short term in the House. It should be considered, but for democracies it is important people are represented. I am supportive of the Bill on this, though I wonder whether it signals something. I am aware the Electoral Commission is considering whether we look at moving towards a list system rather than holding by-elections more generally. Obviously with the European Parliament and local elections we effectively operate a list system in that parties nominate replacements. We do not do so with the Dáil or Seanad. We are seeing it introduced in this legislation and it makes sense. We can debate it in more detail, but I wonder whether it is a signal from the Minister’s Department that it is something that will also be considered there.

This is a fundamentally good piece of legislation. It is, as I said, long overdue. I hope that in his response the Minister gives the House a commitment that insofar as he is in a position to so do we will ensure this legislation is enacted before the end of this Oireachtas. I appreciate there are decisions above his pay grade with regard to that, but it is one of the urgent pieces of legislation we need to get through to ensure we finally see the extension of the franchise. I would like to see it in place for the next Seanad elections because we should look to include graduates of UL, DCU and the technological universities and other institutions. I appreciate that may not be possible and realise there is a quite a bit of administrative work covered in this legislation. If it is not in place for the next Seanad elections I ask that it be in place for the ones after that.

I again thank the Minister and his officials for their work on this Bill. I will certainly be supporting it on behalf of the Fianna Fáil group.