Needs to do better

Enda Kenny’s pledge to abolish the Seanad, reported in yesterdays Irish Times, is a cheap shot at populist politics which shows why he is no better than the current crowd. There are things which can be done to reform the Seanad, and some are very easy.

The quickest way to reform the Seanad would be to hold the elections on the same day as the Dail elections. That would remove the biggest criticism of the Seanad – that it is a refuge for people who failed to make it into the Dail.  It wouldn’t prevent it from being packed with party hacks, but it would force people to decide which chamber to run for and it would mean that the losers would be losers, and reduce their abilty to slink back into Leinster House.

The second, which is long overdue, is to actually implement the result of the referendum held back in 1972 to allow all graduates, and not just thsoe from the NUI and TCD, to vote for the graduates panels. As it now stands, failure to implement this 37 year old referendum decision of the people means that graduates of DIT, UL, DCU and other degree awarding instituttions are discriminated against – and that is a lot of people. Is there any other country in the world where successive governments of all parties can ignore a referendum result for 37 years?  Or does it not count unless we vote twice on it?

The third, which would come back towards DeValera’s original concept, would be to take the votes for the major panels away from the TDs and Councillors, and give them to the nominating bodies. Let the Unions elect the  Labour Panel, let the farmers elect the agriculural panel, and so on. Yes, this would be messy, yes some people might get to vote on more than one panel but it would bring social partnership right into the Oireachtas and make it an integral part of the political process, rather than something wihch is occassionally convenient.  I would very much like to see IBEC, ISME, the IFA and SIPTU having to work on legislation instead of having the luxury of sitting outside complaining about it.  It would make for interesting politics if they had to horse-trade votes on the floor of the Seanad.

And as for Kenny – well, as the leader of the largest party in opposition, he isn’t up to it. He may be a nice guy, but lightweight shots like this show that he really isn’t up to the top job. Like many other people, I have to wonder who the hell can I vote for around here?