Sir, – Exactly one year from today, the law governing how elections for the Seanad can be held will fall.
Since July 2020, legislation has been on the Seanad order paper which would give everyone in the country a vote in Seanad elections for 34 of the current 60 members of the Upper House of the Oireachtas.
The Government has chosen to block that legislation and instead in April proposed a general scheme of a Bill that would merely give all graduates of third-level institutions in the State a vote for six out of 60 senators.
If it progresses, the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024 will have to be voted on by both the Dáil and Seanad at numerous points some time in the next 365 days.
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The danger is that over the next 12 months TDs may find it difficult to explain to their constituents and the wider public why they would vote for a law that limits the right to vote in Seanad elections to college graduates, despite having the opportunity to grant everyone the right to vote.
If the Government cannot achieve a majority in both the Dáil and Seanad in the votes on their proposed legislation ahead of May 31st, 2025, a constitutional crisis may quickly unfold.
The High Court ruled in summer 2020 that the Seanad could not pass legislation until all of its 60 members have been elected or nominated following a general election. Without legislation governing how six senators may be elected, the Seanad would not be permitted under the Constitution to pass legislation, not even legislation that would remedy the Seanad electoral problem.
The outcome of this scenario would be a collapsed Oireachtas, with no power to make or amend laws for the country.
The Government has been on clear notice from the Supreme Court since March 31st, 2023, that they would have to enact new legislation, but in delaying for as long as they have, they have acted in a deeply reckless manner, toying with the very ability of the Oireachtas to make any laws into the future.
I imagine the Government believes it can whip their TDs and Senators to vote to pass their proposed legislation, but that is a gamble and if the Government calls it wrong, that may mark the beginning of the end for the Oireachtas.
Instead, the Seanad Bill 2020 should be progressed as a priority and enacted before the end of this year to ensure the structures required to facilitate Seanad voting for everyone in the country can be in place and operational ahead of the next Dáil and Seanad general elections. I would doubt many members of the public would object to TDs and Senators voting to give everyone in the country typically entitled to vote in Dáil elections a vote in Seanad elections instead of solely third-level graduates. – Yours, etc,
TOMÁS HENEGHAN,
East Wall,
Dublin 3.