By Jacob Richards
On October 4th the electorate will be asked to vote on the abolition of the Seanad. Many people will be apprehensive about voting in favour of abolition and justifiably so. This government has given plenty of reasons since taking office for people to be suspicious of their motives. They have broken countless promises, driven the same austerity agenda as their predecessor and worsened the standards of living for those most vulnerable in society. It is quite understandable that people would wish to punish FG/Lab by voting no in the referendum. The problem is that by doing so, the Irish people will have missed the opportunity to remove one of the most undemocratic and ineffective institutions in the state.
The fact is that the majority of people in this country have no say and never had a say in the nomination and election of senators. As things stand 11 senators are nominated by the Taoiseach, 6 are elected by graduates of Trinity College and the National University of Ireland while the remaining 43 are elected by councillors, TD’s and outgoing senators. As a result the Seanad is built on the premise of an elitism that excludes access to the majority of the electorate. The Seanad was not established as the watchdog of our parliamentary system and it has never behaved this way. It was established in order to maintain a position of privilege for those who proved unelectable in a popular vote.
There is also fear among some that by removing the Seanad, power will be further concentrated in the government’s hands. Naturally this is a frightening concept however in practice the Seanad holds no real power or sway over the Dail’s government majority. If the government wishes to pass legislation it will do so. This is because the Seanad can only delay specific types of legislation for up to 90 days. Regarding finance bills such as the budget, the Seanad cannot even propose amendments and is given 21 days to make only recommendations. These can simply be overruled by the government’s Dáil majority. What this means is that the Seanad is powerless to influence government legislation in any meaningful way.
It is astonishing that, given the ineffectiveness of this institution, 60 senators who have been dubiously elected receive a basic salary in the region of €65,000. On top of this they receive travel, accommodation and public representation allowances. It is unjustifiable that such an expense should be burdened on the taxpayers for what is in reality a talking shop.
People are naturally worried about the government’s motives and who could blame them? In reality this is simply a public relations exercise. The government knows that by doing so, they can proclaim triumph in being the champions of real reform come election time. Although abolishing the Seanad is a progressive step, there must be no doubt about this government’s intentions. It is not interested in real reform. It is interested in satisfying the needs of banks, the markets and the wealthy over ordinary citizens.
On October 4th Irish people will have a simple choice abolish or do not abolish, there is no option for reform. The media have thrown in a red herring about reform of the Senead, this is entirely disingenuous and it is not an option in this referendum. People may decide to punish the government for all it has inflicted on them by voting against abolition of the Seanad. Or they can vote yes and remove one of the most elitist and undemocratic institutions in the history of the state. It might not give our government the punishment it deserves but it will remove a pointless and ineffective parliamentary chamber. With the local elections around the corner there is still time to inflict a blow against this government. For now we must focus on abolishing an elitist institution.