Should the Senate be abolished ?

McArmalite

Doesn't seem to have any real functions, it can only delay laws it does not agree with. To me it appears to be just an empty chamber for those who failed to get elected in the general election or are cosy friends with the senior politicans. So, do you think it's just a waste of tax payers money or has a legitmate function and should be retained ?

brianthebard

No it should be strengthened and given back powers taken from it by DeV. Election should be by the people and not by the Taoiseach.

McArmalite

brianthebard wrote: »

No it should be strengthened and given back powers taken from it by DeV. Election should be by the people and not by the Taoiseach.

Fair enough brian ( BTW what powers it had before Dev took them away ? ). But what function would a second chamber have that the Dail cannot do anyway ? Ok, America has 2 chambers regarding the passing of legislation, but does a small country like Ireland need another one ?

gurramok

Its the Irish House of Lords equivalent. I do not have a vote for it and neither do the vast majority of the populace.
Now, if they were elected by the populace instead of being appointed by the Taoiseach(Eoghan Harris is one example) or by Uni elections, people would care about what goes on in the place and respect it.

sink

Tbh I don't see a need for it. We'll still have more than enough government without it.

DadaKopf

I think the Seanad should be abolished. Denmark has a unicameral legislature and seems to work fine.

turgon

Either abolished or reformed. But how would you elect people to the Seand??

One idea is party lists - thus Senators would have a national platform which means their decisions would be based entirely on the national interest and not be affected by regional and constituency concerns. This as opposed to TD's, who have to make sure their constituents aren't trampled on.

brianthebard

McArmalite wrote: »

Fair enough brian ( BTW what powers it had before Dev took them away ? ). But what function would a second chamber have that the Dail cannot do anyway ? Ok, America has 2 chambers regarding the passing of legislation, but does a small country like Ireland need another one ?

I believe it had the power to veto, and also to introduce its own bills. That would make it vastly more powerful than it has now. It would also serve as balance against the Dail, which is way overpowered imo. Two houses isn't about the size of a nation but providing a more balanced means of government. Also, if it were given more powers I would double its membership (making it about fifty? Maybe less) and decrease the number of TD's by...a lot.

ChocolateSauce

I would only support the continued existence of the senate if senators were banned from being in political parties. The only useful counter balance it could be to the dail (assuming it had strengthened powers) would be to reduce the weight of party politics and the monopoly of the "one ideology, two parties" system we have now.

As it is, it is a waste of money. In Germany and the US, for example, the upper house represents the states first and the people second, but the republic is only a single state and needs no representation of that sort.

Fratton Fred

I think it is always worthwhile having a body that can santiy check what the government is up to. Maybe not that relevant in Ireland as no party is ever that dominant, but if, for example, FF had a 90% majority, who would challeneg them?

I also think, however, that this body should not have too many powers so the government is left to get on with what it is supposed to do, govern.

I'm not 100% sure the senate does this so maybe reformed yes, but abolished, no.

Overheal

McArmalite wrote: »

Doesn't seem to have any real functions, it can only delay laws it does not agree with. To me it appears to be just an empty chamber for those who failed to get elected in the general election or are cosy friends with the senior politicans. So, do you think it's just a waste of tax payers money or has a legitmate function and should be retained ?

Sure lets just get rid of it. Wait, would it look like this?



n'thx

Theres damn good reason for having a Senate in place.

ninty9er

There's only one thing that could make me support the abolition of the Seanad.

The right of the President to say no to signing law because he or she disagrees with it, rather than having to back it up as being unconstitutional, the courts can do that on their own.

There are currently 60 members of the Seanad. I would be in favour of a first past the post Seanad system directly elected on a basis of a constituency for each county in the state electing 2 members and a further 8 seats based on representation of first preference vote in General Elections.