An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2024-03-20
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Michael McDowell (IND), National University of Ireland

On the day that is in it, I will commence by expressing my own personal thanks to the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, for all of the work he has done for Ireland during his period as Minister, Tánaiste and Taoiseach. They have been stressful and hard years and I fully understand the toll that such service can take on people who have dedicated themselves to public elected office. I want to thank him for one thing in particular, for which I will never cease to be grateful. When Sergeant Maurice McCabe needed an ally in public life, it was the Taoiseach, Deputy Leo Varadkar, who stood up for him and showed amazing personal courage in doing so.
I also want to remind the House that recently, in the aftermath of the referendum result, he wrote an article in which he said he had also been on the losing side in the referendums on the abolition of the Seanad and on Oireachtas inquiries. He said he was disappointed at the time, amid recriminations, but came to realise that the people were wise and made the right decision. He said that the Seanad provides a check and a balance on the Dáil that would otherwise not exist and that we have seen the value of that in recent months. That was a generous statement from him to make because he was, until very recently, a convinced abolitionist.
This House has a limited role in relation to legislation. We can, under Article 23 of the Constitution, amend Government legislation or propose our own legislation but Dáil Éireann has the power to effectively reject our views after 90 days. That 90-day period is not very long. I mention that because I believe Ireland is developing and maturing into a different kind of democracy. The sad moment when Members of this House were forced to vote, by a party whip, for their own abolition should be a memory of the past only. I appeal to Members of this House, not today but over the coming weeks, to consider whether the application of a party whip in every matter really adds to Irish democracy or whether it would be far better for Members of this House, bearing in mind the limited role they have, to take it on themselves to express their own individual outlook and to vote in accordance with their own individual preference.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2024-03-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:52:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2024-03-20