Today the Government launched its campaign to abolish the Seanad. To read the Fine Gael booklet outlining our reasons for supporting this referendum, please click here.

Vote YES on Friday 4th October.

Executive Summary

The experience of recent decades has exposed many serious weaknesses of politics in Ireland. The political system did not effectively protect citizens from major economic risks, nor did it deliver modern, effective or accountable government.

The result was insufficient questioning of the foundations on which Ireland’s apparent success was being built. Necessary reforms were long fingered. Political theatre dominated over substance. True accountability was lost.

One of the key mandates sought and obtained from the people in the last General Election was to create a New Politics by undertaking far reaching reform. Huge changes are now underway to remedy the defects. This government is determined that substantial legal and institutional change must be delivered so we can never have a repeat of the catastrophic experience which our citizens are now suffering. Many of these changes have already been implemented or are underway, providing better oversight on Government action, and dealing with regulatory failures, conflicts ofinterest and poor transparency.

Reform of the Oireachtas must go much further. Politics must rationalise its operations, by
dropping elements that don’t deliver effectively and embracing new activities that do. Just as every family and every business has had to adjust – to make sacrifices, and to concentrate on core needs – so politics must do the same.

Ireland has 33% more politicians than the average in other European countries of our size.
Abolishing the Seanad, an institution that costs €20million per year, will bring us into line with international norms.

More and more countries have moved to abolish second chambers as a part of a range of coherent measures to deliver modern, accountable and effective government. No other European country of our size has two chambers. Second chambers do not offer the vital checks and balances, which citizens need in the political system.

The Irish Seanad is particularly ineffectual. From its inception in 1937 it was designed to have exceptionally limited powers. Its most significant power is to delay legislation – and it has not exercised this power since 1964. Its electoral system was rigged so that existing politicians and the government dominated the selection of its membership. It gave privileges to certain groups in society which no longer fits with a modern pluralist citizen democracy.

Preserving the Seanad, an ineffective chamber elected by just 1% of the people, is not compatible with efficient and accountable management of the nation’s affairs. The search for a role and for legitimacy has persisted fruitlessly through 10 reports during its 75 year existence.

It is time to end this pointless search for a purpose for a chamber that has long outlived its role. Instead we must make the Chamber elected by all of the people into an effective modern Parliament.