Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. The Supreme Court recently found that the laws limiting the electorate for the Seanad university panels are unconstitutional so the Oireachtas must legislate to expand the franchise. I commend Tomás Heneghan and FLAC on taking this landmark case to the Supreme Court. The judgment represents an opportunity for much-needed root and branch reform of this House. We need root and branch reform of the Seanad.

Sinn Féin fundamentally believes that the majority of the Seanad should be elected by the public, including Irish citizens in the North and overseas. Indeed, Sinn Féin, myself and other Senators, including Senators Higgins and McDowell, worked tirelessly to produce this report on Seanad reform as part of the Seanad reform implementation group. The group worked tirelessly to fully reflect the range of reforms recommended in the Manning report. The resulting report and draft legislation would fundamentally reform this House into a more representative and diverse Chamber.

The Supreme Court ruling marks an opportunity for full root and branch reform of the Seanad. Regrettably, the opportunity has been missed. We will not settle for piecemeal reform. We are willing and able to work with the Government to implement this legislation. This Bill is on the Order Paper and takes the form of the Seanad Bill 2020.

In 2018, the group worked tirelessly for seven months. We engaged in good faith with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who established the group to advise the Government and implement the proposals of the Manning report. The group worked tirelessly to produce a report. The then Taoiseach set out the terms of reference for the group which are as follows:

- To consider how to implement the recommendations of the Manning Report ... in the context of the acceptance of the overall principles of the recommendations of the Manning Report, to consider whether any specific variations on its recommendations are desirable or necessary;

- To consider and prepare any recommended amendments to the legislation as proposed by the Manning Report;

- To provide in its report the complete text of a bill to implement the group’s proposals;

- To consider and make recommendations for any phasing of implementation of the Bill’s proposals; [and]

- To submit the group’s final report by ... October 2018.

We did all of that. I was totally committed to that process, as was Senator Higgins and the chair of the group, Senator Michael McDowell. It is scandalous that the Government has reneged on its commitment to reform. It is also scandalous because we worked tirelessly for seven months in 2018 in good faith and the chairperson presented the report to the Taoiseach only for the report to be dismissed so coolly in the Dáil.