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Sunday 20 September 2020
Varadkar made the comment as he announced that a new committee on Seanad reform is to be set up.
Voters chose by a narrow margin in a referendum in 2013 to retain the Seanad. It’s unlikely they are happy with that decision, writes Senator Gerard P Craughwell.
The Taoiseach’s nominees to the upper house will be announced today.
Fintan Warfield thinks ‘you don’t have to be a Shinner to be a republican’.
Proposals to expand the electorate will not be implemented before the election.
Our minds are blown. Our heads hurt.
The Seanad Working Group on Reform has published a report calling for overhaul of the upper house.
A working group will report back to the government by March.
Fianna Fáil’s proposal to overhaul the upper house will be opposed by the government.
Everything happening in Leinster House today.
A wafer-thin majority and ‘the three amigos’ could all spell trouble for the coalition…
There was applause in the chamber, but not from Fine Gael or Labour senators.
Minister Phil Hogan said that the expansion is overdue.
Earlier, the Taoiseach promised that senators will get more work once legislation to give all third-level graduates a vote in Seanad elections is passed. The upper house is sitting for just a day-and-a-half this week.
The party has published a bill to reform the upper house within the constraints of the current Constitution.
Enda Kenny has said the upper house can have greater powers of scrutiny but he does not intend to introduce universal suffrage for elections to the Seanad.
The government has not as yet considered any further reforms to the Seanad.
The Agriculture Minister welcomed reports that voting rights are to be extended to more graduates, but believes more ‘fundamental’ reform is needed.
It’s the second time in six weeks that the Seanad has wrapped up its business for the week on a Wednesday.
“Well, I come in peace, not in war,” Kenny told members in the upper house this afternoon.
What to do with senators now they’re saved? Seán Kelly has an idea…
The uncertainty over the future of the upper house meant that there wasn’t much business organised for this week.
With the onset of the crisis five years ago, the malaise in our political system came to the surface; now, thanks in part to the Seand referendum, it is bubbling over, writes Colin Murphy.
The Taoiseach has proposed all-party talks involving leaders in the Dáil and Seanad on what to do with the upper house.
On the first day back after the referendum result, David Norris has already hit out at the idea that senators should not be paid.
The Quinn-Zappone bill is being talked about a lot right now. But what’s in it? We take a look…
The Sinn Féin president was asked about his brother Liam, the Seanad referendum and his own future in an interview this morning.
Some cynics claim that the government will do nothing about the Seanad now, but they are ignoring the reality that 93 per cent of the people oppose the status quo, writes Larry Donnelly.
One of their members Denis Naughten TD also says that “there might have been a different result on Saturday had the Dáil had been reformed first.”
The Minister says certain changes could be brought about under the existing constitution, but that more sweeping reforms may need another vote.
The government must now decide what it plans to do with the retained upper house.
Some might argue that a bad Seanad is better than no Seanad – but having a “bad” Seanad is far worse, inspiring only cynicism and harming the political process, writes Ale White TD.
In pushing for Seanad abolition, the government is trying to strip a layer of democracy designed to give fundamental protections to citizens, writes Niall Collins TD.
The recall to debate transplant legislation shows the role that a reformed Seanad could have says a Fianna Fáil senator.
Support for the plan to get rid of the Seanad is down, but is still 13 points ahead in the poll.
In an interview with TheJournal.ie, Bruton called for politicians not to “reduce to name-calling” as the campaign ramps up.
The Taoiseach told senators today that abolishing the upper house is the biggest package of reform since the passing of the Constitution in 1937.
I have a lot of time for the Taoiseach, but his leadership has been autocratic and even authoritarian in a representative democracy and I find this unsettling, writes Larry Donnelly.
While there are practical arguments for a bill that requires no constitutional change, it limits any reform across the whole legislative body, writes Eoin O’Malley.
Feargal Quinn and Katherine Zappone will call a vote this Wednesday on plans to overhaul how the chamber is elected.
MORE THAN THREE-quarters of people would support the government looking into the prospect of a four-day work week, according to a new survey.
This means doing the same job for the same salary, but over four days rather than five.
There have been calls for this idea to be explored already and the Four Day Week Ireland campaign today released details on its public attitude survey conducted last month.
Two out of three respondents said a four-day work week is “realistic and achievable” in the medium term.
67% of employers said they support the idea and 46% said it would be “feasible” to trial in their workplace.
“The four-day week, with no loss of pay, offers the potential of a genuinely better future for workers and employers alike,” said Joe O’Connor, director of campaigning with Fórsa trade union.
What may once have seemed like a radical concept is now, for many, a reasonable and rational ambition. The Covid-19 pandemic has further disrupted societal and workplace norms, while illustrating the potential for very different models of work.
So today we’re asking: Would you support a four-day work week?
Poll Results:
Share your story: voices@thejournal.ie
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Mostly cloudy, showers around; cooler
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