A new campaign calling for the Seanad to be reformed instead of abolished says getting rid of the upper house would give too much power to the Dail.
Launching their campaign the independent group Democracy Matters said the Seanad should be maintained to keep checks and balances on activities in the Dail otherwise it would create a power grab by the lower house.
The group is seeking reforms for greater gender equality, transparency, and accountability across our entire political system.
The Seanad Reform Group was established in early 2012 by Senators Feargal Quinn and Katherine Zappone, Former Tanaiste Michael McDowell, Former Senator Joe O’Toole, and Barrister and Journalist Noel Whelan to campaign for reform of the Seanad.
The government is expected to hold a referendum in the Autumn on whether to get rid of the Seanad and its 60 senators with no option to vote on reforming it.
Spoke at the launch of @demmattersirl this morning. Strongly believe Seanad reform, not abolition, is the answer. Open it, don't close it.
— Una Mullally (@UnaMullally) May 27, 2013
The Seanad costs around €20 million a year to run. Senators are not voted in by the public but are appointed by councillors, university graduates and the Taoiseach.
Democracy Matters say instead of abolishing it, the upper house should be changed so that it works better.
Professor of Modern Irish History at University College Dublin (UCD) is Diarmaid Ferriter. He says getting rid of the Seanad is undemocratic.
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It follows on from comments by Ireland's European Commissioner and former Government Minister Máire Geoghegan-Quinn who said earlier this month that she would take "great pleasure" in coming home from Brussels to vote 'No' to the abolition of the Seanad. Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn said there was a "need for checks and balances in the political system". And she went on to say "you have to decide do you want a diminishing democracy or a democracy that is enhanced?".
Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn said for 22 years she often came into the Seanad as a Minister of State or a Minister "and I learned more in the discussion in this chamber about the law and how it works than I could ever have learned in the Dáil".
