Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief on the section to discuss those amendments. I will come to the issues with section 40, but these were technical amendments on the key issues in section 40 which concern the new proposals for a replacement list system. This is a fundamental problem with the Bill which I really urge the Minister to address. It is a fundamental step back for democracy. We know that, under the Constitution, all university Senators must be elected. The list system as proposed would allow for a situation where if I had somebody on my replacement list who was not able to step into a role and I stepped down causing a casual vacancy to occur, somebody on one of the other Senators' replacement lists could in fact be chosen.

As I said and with absolute respect to other Senators, the people I choose and the people my constituency mates, Senators Mullen and McDowell, choose to have on the replacement list may be very different. It is certainly not a reflection of my voters nor does it give that electorate a chance to choose again if the replacement list system is brought in as proposed. These were technical amendments because I genuinely urge the Minister to examine section 40. It will be a fundamental problem with the Bill. We do not have to discuss them but I draw the attention to these technical amendments because they would facilitate changes to section 40.