Madam, – Some people are advocating the abolition of the Seanad. I think the time has come for the overhaul of the entire Oireachtas.
Most people have availed of the system: you went to your local TD and complained about the pot-hole down the road or you asked him to get you something you were more than likely entitled to anyway. These local issues should be dealt with at local level.
We need our TDs to formulate government policies, the Ministers to head their departments and not be encumbered by parish-pump demands. In this situation we would need far fewer TDs and constituencies.
The Seanad could be used by the Ministers or the taoiseach, to nominate people to take charge or oversee and advise government departments – people who would be qualified and expert in their field.
How advantageous would it have been in the past decade if we had astute business people acting in teams within departments (in the Department of Finance, for example)?
Every day new failures come to light because of the inadequacies of the present system. It is at this time of crisis that we need to start thinking outside the box; this could be a very good time for change.
Let’s get the ball rolling. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Regarding Patrick O’Byrne’s letter (January 7th). Surely Douglas Hyde, WB Yeats, Jennie Wyse Power, Garret FitzGerald, Mary Robinson, Noël Browne, Mary Henry, Feargal Quinn and David Norris were not given to us by the Seanad, but ended up there because of their contributions to the nation?
Either way, it’s not a reason in these times to sustain an expensive and powerless “house”. – Yours, etc,