Seanad Reform ain't happening lads...

[BlueMagic]

Knew it from the beginning...

http://www.thejournal.ie/what-happened-to-seanad-reform-2387863-Oct2015/

What a pointless waste of resources this house is!

 

[Eoin]

Well this is SHOCKING news.

 

[sloblock]

To be fair, that reform would have been less than seismic in its impact anyway. To my knowledge the majority of NUI & TCD graduates don't vote in these farcical elections anyway.

 

[richiepurg]

To be fair, that reform would have been less than seismic in its impact anyway. To my knowledge the majority of NUI & TCD graduates don't vote in these farcical elections anyway.

You're right, only a tiny minority vote in this elitist exercise.
They would have been better off giving votes for about 3 senators to all 16-18 year olds and keep the age limit for Dáil voting.
I voted for the abolition of the senate.

 

[SoundMan]

To be fair, that reform would have been less than seismic in its impact anyway. To my knowledge the majority of NUI & TCD graduates don't vote in these farcical elections anyway.

Have you spoken to the majority of NUI & TCD graduates on how they vote? ;-)

The proposed widening out of the electorate from 170K to 800K for only 6 of the 60 seats was just window dressing imho.

If the Seanad was to become a chamber of elected panels of experts in various fields (medical, financial, educational etc) to review proposed legislation that affects the panels they represent then it could save the Oireachtas a lot of time and effort. At the moment we have people drafting legislation in areas that they frequently have little or no experience of.

 

[BlueMagic]

My real reason for setting this thread up was to bemoan the moronic mindset of those who voted to keep this open. "Better to have it just to be safe"...

 

[outdagap]

My real reason for setting this thread up was to bemoan the moronic mindset of those who voted to keep this open. "Better to have it just to be safe"...

The 20% of those who voted FF in 2007 are now searching around for someone who will feed their need to be told someone else is to blame.

 

[KolaKubes]

The 20% of those who voted FF in 2007 are now searching around for someone who will feed their need to be told someone else is to blame.

That's the funny bit alright.

What would FF have had to do in 2007 to make that % not vote for them?

Sacrificing chickens on a black altar on the floor of the Dáil?

 

[Corcaigh32]

The fact it is not happening is just another way of making people revisit this in a referendum. Enda's personal policy effort that got quashed and rightly so. We need a second chamber in the same way we need an independent judiciary. Concentrating power in the Dáil is a very dangerous thing. The fact this government don't want to do it just shows the contempt they have for the constitution as evidenced by all the spurious referenda we have had.

 

[KolaKubes]

How about if the counterbalance was a house made up of six reps. One for Dublin City, one for the rest of Leinster, one for Munster, one for Connacht, one for Ulster (including the North), one for the "diaspora"?

Directly elected by Irish passport holders.

A higher house but representing local government.