Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent)
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126. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the reason graduates from private and independent higher education institutions in Ireland, specifically those awarded QQI, HETAC, and NCEA degrees, have been excluded from the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024, when the Bill is designed to extend the franchise to a broader range of graduates. [39435/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024 was published on 27 September. The provisions in the Bill respond to the Supreme Court decisions last year which found that sections 6 and 7 of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act 1937 were unconstitutional because they were not consistent with Article 18.4.2 of the Constitution, as amended. The Court deemed that the manner in which the proposal to amend Article 18.4.2 of the Constitution was framed and put to the people by way of referendum indicated that it required some action to subsequently amend the rules on the franchise for electing university members.

The proposals in the Bill provide for a new six-seat Higher Education constituency, to elect the Seanad’s six University members. It is proposed that this constituency will replace the two existing three-seat constituencies: the National University of Ireland (NUI) constituency and the Dublin University constituency. The Bill proposes that the eligibility criteria for being an elector of the Higher Education constituency would be as follows: a person shall be (i) aged 18 years or more (ii) an Irish citizen and (iii) a graduate of the NUI, University of Dublin or a designated institution of Higher Education as defined by Section 53 of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022, with each elector limited to one vote.

The Higher Education Authority Act provides for a process whereby higher education institutions not currently designated can in future apply for designation.