With the Seanad abolition campaign heating up, there are a lot of questions on the minds of young people as they examine the topic. One simple question for some is simple: “What does the Seanad offer?”

Entrepreneur and Senator Feargal Quinn was asked that in his interview with Future Matters, and was keen to point out that the Seanad offers something the Dáil just doesn’t: a broad array of backgrounds, expertise, and people willing to put their experience to work. “One of the advantages of the Seanad, even the unreformed Seanad, is that it contains a whole range of people with different experience

Among the university senators there is Professor John Crown, who can speak on health and medical matters; David Norris is a noted champion of civil rights; Sean Barrett is an expert on finance; Rónán Múllán is a lawyer who is a committed Christian and I regard myself as someone with employment and business experience.”

Speaking about how he brings that experience to the floor of the Seanad, Senator Quinn added that he had “introduced a number of Bills in the Seanad, some of which came from my business background, such as the Construction Contracts Act, the Employment Permits (Amendment) Bill and the Food Provenance Bill. However, other topics came from my everyday experience”. The Construction Contracts Act recently became law and stops payments within the construction industry being withheld for extended periods of time.

Another key advantage the Seanad offers is that Senators do not have to put all their energy into local issues and can focus on national and international issues also. Quinn explains that this has allowed him to spread his wings, and has been “involved in different international associations, one based in Brussels, one in Paris and one in Washington D.C. I have learned a great deal from these gatherings and meeting such international figures and I believe these experiences can be useful here in Ireland.”

Yet Senator Quinn is under no illusions that the Seanad needs fixing. When asked about the cost of and indifference towards the Upper House, he turns to the possibilities reform offers. First up, the live Seanad Reform Bill includes a “proposal that Senators should be paid 50% of a TD’s salary.” Quinn also understands the apathy, if not anger, out there at the Seanad, explaining that “many people feel no connection with the existing Seanad because the average citizen does not elect Senators directly. The proposed Seanad Bill proposes that everybody on the island of Ireland should have a vote, and only one vote. I believe that that one change alone will give everyone a sense of ownership of the Seanad.”

So, why vote no? Quinn offers three reasons:

• It is not unusual for someone to seek a second opinion when they go to a doctor. I will vote ‘NO’ to Seanad abolition to ensure we have a second opinion on any future government decision.

• Over the years I have seen too many errors in legislation coming from the Dáil – a second House can usually identify them.

• I will vote ‘NO’ to guarantee that no future government uses the ‘whip’ system to push undemocratic decisions on its electorate.

Via Future Matters: http://futurematters.ie/index.php/what-does-the-seanad-offer/

Future Matters is a nationwide campaign of young Irish people, calling for reform of our Seanad and advocating for a No vote in the Seanad abolition referendum which takes place October 4th.