Taoiseach rejects FG proposal to abolish Seanad

TAOISEACH Brian Cowen has rejected a Fine Gael proposal to abolish the Seanad to save money.

Mr Cowen said while the Government was committed to the issue of both Dáil and Seanad reform, he didn’t believe such reform should involve scrapping the latter.

“To be perfectly honest, I believe that we do need to maintain our democratic institutions in this country,” he said. “I think now more than ever, in difficult times, democratic accountability is important.”