The biggest Seanad reform plan in 60 years, which includes a proposal that half of all senators should be directly elected, has been backed by the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern.
The reform document, published yesterday by Seanad Éireann Committee on Procedures and Privileges, recommends that the number of senators be increased from 60 to 65.
However, the existing vocational panels used to elect the Upper House should be scrapped because it would be impossible to modernise them effectively.
Twenty-six senators should be elected by proportional representation from a national list, which would mean that parties getting more than 4 per cent of the vote would gain a place in the Upper House.
Direct popular Seanad elections are probably "the single most significant step that can be taken" to improve the Seanad's legitimacy and to get the public more involved in its operation.
Twenty more should be elected by councillors, TDs and senators, while six more should be elected by all third-level graduates, not just graduates from Trinity, UCC, UCD and UCG.
Launching the report yesterday, the leader of the Seanad, Mrs Mary O'Rourke, said the document is the 12th reform plan, but the first one to have all-party backing.
"It would be attractive to stay cosy. There would be many urging us to be stay cosy. We think the Seanad is a valuable resource. It isn't being used properly," she told The Irish Times.
During the negotiations, Fianna Fáil and the Christian Solidarity Party were the only parties to implicitly support the continuation of the existing voting system.
The Progressive Democrats, the Green Party, Sinn Féin and the Workers' Party "all argued against any form of indirect election by county councillors," the report said.
Fine Gael, Labour and the SDLP argued for a mixed-voting system: "Under questioning, the Fine Gael position saw a mix of indirect election as a pragmatic first step along the route to full direct elections." The existing university voting rules cannot be justified, though "the distinguished contribution" made by past and current university senators was recognised. However, graduates would only have one vote in Seanad elections, so they would have to decide whether they wanted to vote in the PR list, or in the university race.
The Seanad should be elected on a rotating basis, though the 12 seats controlled by the Taoiseach should ensure that the Government of the day would always have a majority in the Upper House.
The Seanad should be given the job of inspecting the North/South bodies, improving scrutiny of European Union legislation, and of increasing consultation on legislation before it is passed by the Oireachtas. The leader of the Seanad should also have the right to attend Cabinet with the status of either Minister, or Minister of State, though Mrs O'Rourke has made clear that she does not want to be considered.
The Taoiseach has ordered the creation of a special committee under the chairmanship of the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, which is to meet monthly to organise the introduction of reforms. Independent Senator Mr Joe O'Toole acknowledged that the Seanad report would be "leavened" by the Government as time moved on: "But the Seanad will not survive at it is," he declared.
Fine Gael Senator Brian Hayes said this Seanad was mid-way through its life: "There is plenty of time for the Government to move. Now is the time for action."
The decision to recommend expanding the third-level franchise was welcomed by Mr Sean O'Connor, a founder member of the lobby group Graduate Equality. Dublin City University, the University of Limerick, Dublin Institute of Technology and the Institutes of Technology make up more than half of the current third-level student population, he said.
