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Irish voters set to back Seanad abolition Irish voters set to back Seanad abolition
(about 19 hours later)
Ireland's electorate is expected to vote for the abolition of the Republic's second parliamentary chamber on Friday. Defenders of the Seanad (Senate) say abolishing it will lead to a power grab by the taoiseach, Enda Kenny. Despite an alumni that includes Nobel laureate WB Yeats, former president Mary Robinson and the gay rights campaigner and James Joyce expert David Norris, Ireland's electorate is expected on Friday to vote for the abolition of the Republic's second parliamentary chamber.
The last national opinion poll, published by the Irish Times and Ipsos MRBI at the start of the week, found that 44% of voters would tick yes on the ballot paper to get rid of the Seanad, and 27% would vote no. Senators are now pinning their hopes on undecided voters. But as Irish voters go to the polls in a referendum to turn the Republic into a unicameral democracy, defenders of the Seanad (Senate) say abolishing it will lead to a "power grab" by the taoiseach, Enda Kenny.
For Enda Kenny, the referendum – which also includes a vote on creating a new Irish court of appeal – is a key test of his authority before yet another austerity budget later this month. Kenny has claimed that abolition of the Seanad will save the taxpayer €20m a year, but critics say the real intention of the taoiseach and his Fine Gael party is to concentrate more political powers in their own hands. The last national opinion poll published by the Irish Times/MRBI Ipsos at the start of this week found that 44% will vote to get rid of the Seanad while 27% will oppose abolition.
John Crown, a senator and one of Ireland's leading cancer surgeons, said: "The Seanad has tabled 500 amendments to legislation in the lifetime of this current government. So it is spurious to claim it does nothing. In fact it plays a role in improving legislation such as the recent insolvency bill during which Seanad amendments added more protection for mortgage holders from predatory, greedy banks. Senators such as one of Ireland's leading cancer surgeons John Crown are now pinning their hopes on the 21% undecided moving to the NO camp.
/>For Kenny, the referendum, which also includes a vote on creating a new Irish court of appeal, is a key test of his authority as premier ahead of yet another austerity budget later this month.
"In addition, abolition will mean for example that the only economist on the joint parliamentary committee for finance, who happens to be a member of the Seanad, will lose his post. Abolition means the joint parliamentary health committee will lose the only doctor on the panel, ie myself. The oversight, the checks and balances and the expertise the Seanad provides will all be lost if there is a yes vote." But for Crown and fellow Senators, as well as the main opposition party Fianna Fáil, Kenny's claim that abolition will save €20m (£17m) a year masks the taoiseach and his Fine Gael party's real desire to concentrate more political powers in their hands.
The Seanad is appointed partly through nominations by parties in the Dail and by trade unions, and through the votes of university graduates and staff who elect favoured academics. "The Seanad has tabled 500 amendments to legislation in the life time of this current government. So, it is spurious to claim it does nothing. In fact it plays a role in improving legislation such as the recent insolvency bill during which Seanad amendments added more protection for mortgage holders from predatory, greedy banks.
More than 40% of those polled for the Irish Times cited the cost of the Seanad as a reason for supporting its abolition. Seizing on that issue, the taoiseach canvassed central Dublin this week to bolster support for his plan. "In addition, abolition will mean for example that the only economist on the joint parliamentary committee for finance, who happens to be a member of the Seanad, will lose his post. Abolition means the joint parliamentary health committee will lose the only doctor on the panel, ie myself. The oversight, the checks and balances and the expertise the Seanad provides will all be lost if there is a yes vote," Crown told the Guardian on the eve of the referendum.
"Friday is your day to have that voice heard very strongly to radically change our institutions. Politicians must always put people's needs first. The referendum clearly does that. The Seanad is ineffective and undemocratic, it costs €20m a year to run, and has never engaged with the Irish public the way it should have," Kenny said while on a walkabout in the capital. More than 40% polled in the last survey cited the cost of the Seanad as their reason for voting Yes.
But Derek Mooney, a campaigner against abolition, claimed that the €20m figure was a "con job". "The figure is around €9m gross and €6m net in terms of abolition. Not one cent will be saved for another three years, but yet €14m will be spent this year on having this unnecessary referendum." Seizing upon the cost issue, the taoiseach sought to bolster support for abolition.
He said one of the dangers of having a single chamber was that a government with a large majority – such as the current Fine Gael-Labour coalition – could for instance remove independent judges by a vote from a single chamber. "Friday is your day to have that voice heard very strongly to radically change our institutions. Politicians must always put people's needs first. The referendum clearly does that. The Seanad is ineffective and undemocratic, it costs €20m a year to run, and has never engaged with the Irish public the way it should have," Kenny said while on walkabout in Dublin.
Mooney said Ireland needed better politicians rather than fewer, and claimed the government had backtracked on its promise to cut back on Dail deputies' pay in solidarity with a nation enduring austerity. The Seanad is appointed partly by parties in the Dáil, the lower chamber, nominating their own senators, or by the trade unions and the votes of university graduates and staff who normally elect favoured academics to the second chamber.
Unicameral parliaments Derek Mooney, a campaigner for the no side, however claims that the government's promise to save €20m is a "con job".
If Ireland votes to abolish its second chamber, it will join a number of democracies with unicameral parliaments. They include: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Israel, Bulgaria, Hungary, Portugal, Peru, Venezuela, South Korea and New Zealand. Mooney says: "The figure is around €9m gross and €6m net in terms of abolition. Not one cent will be saved for another three years, but yet €14m will be spent this year on having this unnecessary referendum."
He points out that one of the dangers of having a single chamber is that a government with a large majority such as the one the Fine Gael-Labour coalition commands could for instance remove independent judges by a vote from a single chamber.
Mooney adds that what Ireland needs instead are "better politicians, not fewer politicians" and that this government has backtracked on its promise to cut back on Dáil deputies salaries in solidarity with a nation enduring austerity cuts.
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