Committee Reports::Report - Seanad Panel Elections::11 February, 1947::Proceedings of the Joint Committee

2. Present: Ceann Comhairle (Chairman); Minister for Health, Minister for Local Government, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Local Government; Deputies Bartley, B. Brady, Cogan, Everett, McCann and McCarthy; and Senators Counihan, Duffy, Hayes, Hearne, Kingsmill Moore and Quirke.

“To delete the second sentence of the paragraph commencing ‘It is proposed’ and ending with the expression ‘nominating body’ and to substitute therefor the following:—

‘It is proposed that at its annual meeting each registered body shall (1) appoint the date for its next annual meeting, which date shall not be more than 400 days nor less than 330 days (in both cases including Sundays) after the date of the annual meeting at which such appointment was made; (2) select five persons to be members of the nominating committee until that date.

The five persons thus selected shall serve as members of the nominating committee until the date appointed under (1) for the annual meeting of the registered body concerned and thereupon unless selected at that annual meeting shall cease to be members of the nominating committee.

A member of the nominating committee shall cease to be a member of a nominating committee on the happening of any of the following events:—

(a)his death;

(b)the nominating body by which he was appointed ceasing to be registered as a nominating body;

(c)his being adjudicated bankrupt or convicted of an offence;

(d)his being expelled from, or having resigned from membership of, the nominating body.’”

Amendment amended, by leave, by the insertion of the word “indictable” before the word “offence” in sub-paragraph (c).

‘The Joint Committee are in favour of the system of sub-panels being retained. Any difficulties that may have arisen in the past in marking the ballot paper as a result of the division of the panels into sub-panels will be considerably lessened if there is acceptance of the proposals of the Joint Committee to have a separate ballot paper for each panel and also their proposals to reduce the number of candidates for election.

It has been suggested that nominees of the nominating bodies have been elected to the Seanad in recent elections who have secured few votes from the electorate. The experience since the last election shows that, notwithstanding, the elected nominees of the nominating bodies have rendered good service to the Seanad.

It is considered that the abolition of the sub-panels would lessen the prospects of election of nominees of the nominating bodies. The candidates put forward by the Dáil and Seanad who would largely be politicians would have the advantage of an electorate consisting of the Dáil and Seanad and members of the County Councils and County Boroughs and they would secure, it is felt, most if not all of the seats. Any such result would help to kill vocational representation in the Seanad.’”

‘The Joint Committee are of opinion that the division of each panel into two sections—the nominating bodies sub-panel and the Oireachtas sub-panel—should be continued. The final selection of the nominees of the nominating bodies by the respective nominating committees, as recommended by the Joint Committee, should go far to ensure that the candidates thus selected for election by the electorate will be desirable members of the Senate. But as the electorate will consist almost entirely of persons with affiliations to particular political parties, most of whom have been elected to the positions which entitle them to a vote as party candidates, there is a great danger that, unless the sub-panel system is maintained, all votes will be cast for those persons who have been nominated by members of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Joint Committee consider that it is very necessary that the Senate should include a proportion of senators who are not professed party politicians and that those will be found most readily in the ranks of those nominated by the nominating bodies.

The presence in the Senate of such men, many of whom may be expected to have expert qualifications, will continue to add to its usefulness as a final revising body. Their contributions to the proceedings of the Senate are usually free from any suspicion of political bias and so receive full examination, close debate and often a ready acceptance.

Nor is there any anomaly if they are elected by a fewer number of votes than is required to return candidates on the Oireachtas sub-panel. The latter candidates, nominated by persons who are nearly all party politicians must naturally be in a position to command the majority of votes from an electorate itself composed almost entirely of party politicians. The whole object of the system of nominating bodies and sub-panels is to secure the election of persons of the type contemplated by the Constitution, namely, persons with knowledge and practical experience of the special interests and services rather than persons with political pull.’”

4. The Joint Committee adjourned at 6 p.m. to Tuesday, 25th February, at 4.30 p.m.

IMEACHTA AN CHOMH-CHOISTE

PROCEEDINGS OF THE JOINT COMMITTEE

Dé Máirt 11ú Feabhra, 1947.

Tuesday, 11th February, 1947.