Senators have called on the media to pay more attention to what goes on in the upper house in advance of a potential referendum on the future of the Seanad next year.
Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fáil) said there was a “continuing lack of empathy” in the general public about what the Seanad does and its constitutional role because of media indifference.
He said continuing indifference could mean the public will not have the “fullest information available” about the “important work” that the Seanad does in amending the legislation.
He expressed a wish that the “large cohort of political journalists circulating around this house might on occasions come in here to this house not only to do colour pieces but that they would report on the hard business of this house.”
He also criticised RTÉ's coverage in Oireachtas Report saying that it did not give enough coverage to the Seanad and was too focused on the Order of Business rather than substantive debate on bills.
Seanad Labour leader Ivana Bacik said the possibility that there will be a referendum on the future of the Seanad will ensure more media coverage next year and she said senators will have to be “on our mettle”.
Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) said the lack of media showed “life was neither perfect nor fair”.
He said if the media paid more attention to the Seanad they would see that more “genuine political debate” went on in the Seanad than in the Dáil where every debate was predictable.
He forecast that the Seanad would not be the Titanic but an “aircraft carrier with a nuclear engine”.
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