Greens intend to deal with Seanad reform

A SENIOR Green figure yesterday signalled the party’s intention to be the first coalition partners to grapple with the tangled question of Seanad reform in well over a generation.

Dan Boyle, the party’s senior negotiator, said he expected that reform of the upper house would be dealt with early in the term of Government.

Mr Boyle, who lost his Dáil seat in Cork South Central, is expected to be one of Taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s 11 nominees, along with an as yet unnamed Green Party colleague.

“My own view is that the process can be started by the end of the year,” Mr Boyle told the Irish Examiner yesterday. “Of course it will require constitutional change,” he added.

Yesterday it emerged that Environment Minister and Green Party leader John Gormley said that he was not going to present a memo on Seanad reform to Cabinet colleagues contrary to weekend reports.

A spokesman for the minister pointed out that reform of Seanad was in the Programme for Government and would be tackled by the minister whose responsibility it is.

However, it is understood that such a proposal would not be put to Government immediately, but sometime later in the year.

Since 1928, a total of 12 reports have been published dealing with the issue of Seanad reform. However, successive governments have over the years failed to tackle the issue, despite widespread consensus that the upper house badly needs to be reformed.

The last report was drawn up by an all-party committee from the Senate itself, chaired by then House leader Mary O’Rourke.

It comes as counting of votes gets underway later today for the 60-seat chamber. The set-up has about a 1,000 TDs, senators and councillors voting to fill 43 of the 60 seats, with graduates of the NUI and TCD voting for six seats.

The remaining 11 senators will be nominated by Mr Ahern later this month. Two Green and two PD councillors will be among this group.