Another important report has been produced by the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution which, unfortunately, is destined to bite the dust with the on-set of the general election.
The Seventh Progress Report deals with the two Houses of the Oireachtas at a time when there is a widespread and powerful sense that the Dáil and Seanad are not fulfilling their functions as effectively as they should, and that their standing and relevance are in decline. Public confidence in the Dáil and Seanad - and, indeed, their elected representatives - needs to be restored.
The All-Party Committee, chaired by Mr Brian Lenihan, has produced a progressive set of recommendations which would help restore the primacy of parliament in the democratic life of this State. It also considered how people living in Northern Ireland might play a more active part in our national political institutions in accordance with the spirit of the Belfast Agreement; and how emigrants might be granted a participative role.
The Committee conducted an exhaustive examination of the case for a change in the PR-STV electoral system to the Dáil. It concluded that the current voting system, and the current number of 166 Dáil deputies, should be retained. It does advocate, however, that the qualifying age for membership of the Dail should be reduced from 21 to 18 years, the watershed age for most matters.
While the changes to the Dáil are minimal, the Committee recommends root-and-branch reform of the Seanad. It provides it with a direct electoral mandate to enhance its democratic legitimacy. It argues that the vocational element of the present electoral arrangements has become quite meaningless. Interest groups already have ample opportunity to make their views known in other fora and in direct dialogue with government. The preservation of the university seats is deemed to be "an anomaly and an anachronism", notwithstanding the valuable contribution that university senators have made in the chamber.
So the Committee is recommending that the composition of the Seanad should be changed radically. Forty-eight of the 60 senators would be elected on the same day as the general election, by PR on a national list system which would be proportional. A further 12 senators would be nominated by the Taoiseach, at least four of whom should be from Northern Ireland and one of whom would have an awareness of emigrant issues.
This report, like most of its fore-runners, is a solid body of work capable of speedy implementation. Many of the more innovative proposals - like allowing Northern MPs to speak in periodic debates in the Dáil - are not strictly of a constitutional character. More the pity then that they must await consideration - like so many other issues - by the next coalition government.