Madam, – “The political system has to wake up and realise that it has to radically change the way it does its work and start reflecting some of the realities facing the Irish people.”
These are the words of Enda Kenny, proposing what Fine Gael calls a “radical overhaul of Dáil and Seanad Éireann”.
However, proposals that retain the current bicameral Oireachtas and the current number of TDs and Senators fall well short of radical reform.
To be truly radical, reform must include the abolition of the unnecessary and elitist Seanad. While such a move would undoubtedly deprive us of some insightful and enlightened debate – much of it from Senators who are, bluntly, unelectable to the Dáil under our current system – the loss could be mitigated by the introduction of a radically overhauled electoral system that would allow all political parties to put forward some candidates free from the constraints of “local” politics.
Many of our fellow EU members, mainly the Scandinavian and Baltic states, run robust democracies with unicameral parliaments. A perfect model for Ireland can be found in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, a state with a similar population and area to Ireland, where 141 members are elected for a four-year term in 71 single-member constituencies and one multi-member 70 seat constituency. – Yours, etc,