The second
chamber of the Oireachtas, Seanad Éireann, is an insult to democracy, is symptomatic of an abuse
of power by political parties and a waste of the monies taken from hard-working
citizens in the form of taxes that are supposed to be used to pay for essential
public services such as health and education rather than to provide party
apparatchiks with exorbitant payments.
The Seanad is structured mainly around panel seats for agriculture, culture, industry and other sectors of
society. Yet as the Senate electorate consists primarily of TDs, senators and councilors, it
has never reflected these social strata. All of the political parties have traditionally
used this institution as a rest-home for their members rejected by the
electorate or as a launch pad for aspiring TDs.
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| A typical day of low attandence in the Seanad. |
It has therefore been a toothless kitten for most of its
history, providing senators with large annual salaries, staff and expenses
during the years of the Celtic Tiger whilst having one of the worst attendance
records of any political representative entity in Europe. A few notable courageous
independent-minded senators have made important contributions that have benefited
the nation. But these members were the exception and came mainly from an
elitist university panel voted in by third-level graduates.
Only two pieces of
legislation have been rejected by the Seanad in a history stretching back to its
foundation in its present form in the 1930s.
As a result of the
calamitous decision of the last government who committed the greatest crime in
the history of the state by bankrupting the country and its future for decades
to come in order to bail out unscrupulous private banks and foreign gambling
bondholders, ordinary decent hardworking citizens and their families have
suffered increased unemployment and enforced emigration. Those that are lucky
enough to hold onto jobs are enduring wage reductions; increased taxes and
decreased public services; the closure of schools, Garda Stations and hospitals which they are asked to suffer in a spirit of renewed
patriotism in order to save the country from the abyss.
I have no problem in answering
the nation’s call and making personal sacrifices to ensure economic and social
freedom for generations not yet born as our forefathers and mothers did throughout
our history. But I fundamentally disagree with handing over monies in the form
of taxes to be squandered by paying unnamed foreign gamblers as well as
political party senators; by providing huge salaries to individual property
speculators in NAMA to keep them in the ostentatious lifestyles that they were
formerly accustomed too; by allowing Brian Cowen, Bertie Ahern and former
government ministers as well as the former financial regulator and other top
civil servants, who collectively mismanaged the country and/or who abused their
positions of influence, to ‘retire’ as young men in order to enjoy huge ‘golden
handshakes’ and pensions worth up to 150,000Euro per annum for their rest of
their long lives whilst they also continue to earn big fees from private
directorships, after-dinner speeches and media work. I disagree too with former
civil servants and politicians such as Alan Dukes being appointed to lucrative
positions in state-supported institutions whilst still being allowed to draw down
taxpayer-funded pensions.
The new coalition was swept
into office by an angry electorate. When he took office, An Taoiseach Enda
Kenny promised to implement a ‘democratic revolution’ that would sweep away the
political cronyism of previous governments which had brought the whole democratic
process into disrepute by awarding taxpayer-funded state contracts, positions on
state boards/quangos, senate seats, land re-zoning and legislative bias that
too often benefited property speculators, bankers and party members.
Sadly promises made are
quickly forgotten as the government parties continue to look after the “old
boys (and girls) network” rewarding discredited civil servants and party
loyalists rejected by the electorate. At the same time the perpetrators of the
crisis go unpunished and continue to taste the good life on the backs of
hard-working taxpayers.
However Enda Kenny’s
recent decision to keep by his pre-election promise to abolish the Seanad must be
praised as a first step in fulfilling the promise of a ‘democratic revolution’.
Maybe there is a need for a
second more accountable chamber of Oireachtas comprised of the different
components of Irish society from the Diaspora, farming, business innovation,
arts, heritage, education, social inclusion etc. Packed with party hacks and vested interests, this will never happen whilst the
existing Senate remains in existence.
