Keep the Seanad but give it some teeth

SAD to read that the main reason advanced for abolishing the Seanad is “to save money”. Surely any programme of institutional reform in modern Ireland should, as a priority, endeavour to enhance the status of parliament as a whole.

A second chamber is both a critical element in the checks and balances of a political system and an additional resource in the formation of public policy.

The Seanad should be retained but its constitution has to be radically changed to enable it to discharge its real functions in the parliamentary system.