We are calling for people to vote Yes on October 4, because we believe that a single chamber is sufficient as part of a streamlined political system.
Ireland is now firmly in recovery mode – economic growth has resumed, people are getting back to work, and we are about to exit the bailout.
In building this recovery following the chaos inherited from the previous administration, we have necessarily overhauled and reformed public services – so that these services are more efficient and cost-effective. The Oireachtas cannot be excluded from this process.
As we look ahead to the type of country we want to build post-recovery, we must ensure we have the type of parliamentary structure that befits a reformed, revitalised – and a more resourceful – Ireland.
A reformed single chamber in the shape of the Dail is the streamlined structure we require.
The Seanad is surplus to requirements, and international experience backs this up.
Ireland has a population of just under 4.6 million. In OECD countries of populations with less than10 million people, a single chamber is the norm. There is no reason why Ireland should be any different.
Denmark and Sweden are just two of the countries which have abandoned their second chambers and neither is the worse for it.
They have strong, healthy and vibrant democracies with well-functioning and stable single-chamber parliaments at their core.
The Seanad has an electoral system that is profoundly undemocratic. Its role is by and large redundant. All manner of past reports have failed to lead to any significant reform.
Put simply, the Seanad is past its sell-by-date.
That is not a criticism of the many fine individual senators, past and present, who have served in the institution.
But the institution as a whole no longer has a meaningful role to play. In fact, it’s questionable if it ever played a meaningful role at all.
That is now the question the public has to decide upon.
Our view is clear: it is time to abolish the Seanad and reshape our parliament as we renew our country.