Sir, – Your Oireachtas Report of December 16th ("Seanad electoral system 'bizarre and elitist', says Crown") tells us that there is a Bill being discussed in the Seanad to open up the elections to the Seanad to all citizens and to all emigrants worldwide.
What this shows is that, despite having too many politicians relative to our population, the recent referendum did the ordinary people of this over-borrowed country a disservice. It succeeded in maintaining the Seanad as an expensive talking shop for the insider elite and their friends.
The Senators are not even satisfied with that. They are now proposing to set up another Dáil with a large non-taxable electorate and thereby make it even more expensive.
How many extra hospital beds or extra houses for the homeless could be provided with the money that is spent on the existing Seanad, not to mention a more expensive version?
We already have a directly elected Dáil. We do not need another one.
We especially do not need an even more expensive one with a large and non-taxable electorate. – Yours, etc,
A LEAVY,
Sutton,
Dublin 13.