by Senator Feargal Quinn
"The Government has decided the future of Seanad Eireann will be settled by a referendum on October 4. I am strongly opposed to Enda Kenny's abolition plans.
I believe that this ill-conceived idea will damage our democracy and our capacity to rebuild our economy...
Rather than abolish...ing an integral part of our parliament, we need to reform it.
Ireland badly needs a new Seanad to fix the broken system of Government that caused the economic crisis and put 500,000 people out of work.
That broken system was made up of the Dail, Seanad, Cabinet, parties, departments and regulators.
Their failures caused the economic crisis.
Backing a new Seanad will show we have learned our lesson.
The Government wants people to believe there are only two options open to us - abolition or retention.
But, in fact, a No vote will give a strong mandate to credible reform plans which Senator Katherine Zappone and I published.
Our plans, which this referendum cynically gazumps, will for the first time give a Seanad vote to every single person on this island, North and South.
They will also give a vote to our emigrants, many of whom have been forced out of the country by the failures of our political system.
The Government doesn't want a reformed Seanad because this will make them more accountable and mean it will have to spend more time listening to dissenting voices.
This is short-sighted because a new reformed house could improve the quality of our politics and this is crucial to drive economic renewal.
Reform would bring outside experts in areas such as health, agriculture, business and economics into parliament to draft and scrutinise legislation.
This Government has pledged to reform politics, but Seanad abolition is most definitely not reform - it is a filleting of the Constitution.
It means there will be even less vetting of legislation and this really matters. Bad law affects everyone in our society. It damages trust in politics, it undermines economic renewal and it impacts negatively on the way we all lead our lives.
The figures advanced by the Government in favour of Seanad abolition are hugely exaggerated.
The factual position is that Kieran Coughlan, the accounting officer to the Oireachtas, has publicly testified that the gross annual saving would be less than €10million.
Compare this figure with an annual €28million in pay and allowances for councillors in Dublin.
In order to secure further savings, the reforms which Senator Zappone and I proposed will ensure senators receive only 50% of a TD's pay.
If ministers are serious about reducing the cost of politics, they should now voluntarily take a pay-cut of a similar scale.
The Government has been quick to argue that countries such as Denmark, Norway and Finland have similar populations to ours, but they manage well with a one-chamber parliament.
Comparing the systems in Ireland and the Nordic countries is not comparing like with like and is totally disingenuous.
The Nordic countries have given significant political powers to local government, removing the need for a two-chamber national parliament.
Everyone knows we do not have a strong system of local government in Ireland.
It is no accident the world's wealthiest countries have two chamber parliaments.
Of the 15 strongest economies in the globe, only two - China and South Korea - have a one chamber parliament.
This referendum in Ireland will take place against the backdrop of mass unemployment, widespread emigration and countless thousands of people in negative equity.
A sensible response to this distressing state of affairs is to reject the Government's plans to do away with the people's right to a second democratic chamber.
A reformed Seanad is a positive response to the fiscal crisis and loss of sovereignty.
Most importantly it will help to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated."
Via The Irish Daily Mirror |
