Sir, – A Leavy (July 16th) writes of the "irrelevance and unaffordability of the Seanad", when just this week the Government was defeated in the Seanad regarding a motion over the cut to the lone-parent allowance, a feat which would not be achievable in the Dáil.
In the previous week alone (July 14th to 17th), the Seanad dealt with 10 Bills and passed the Gender Recognition Bill, a transformative Bill which itself originated in the Seanad and gives recognition to transgender citizens.
The Seanad is no “talking shop”, as Mr Leavy claims. It has its flaws but they can be corrected with legislative reform. The real talking shop is the Government and its consistent promises of reforms while leaving hundreds of thousands of citizens without a Seanad vote.
Another Dáil is the last thing we need; that’s why we need a reformed and vocational Seanad where every citizen can determine its membership for themselves. – Yours, etc,
DANIEL GRIFFIN,
Dunboyne,
Co Meath.