In our initial submission we provided the committee with a brief outline of the Irish Conference of Professional and Services Associations and described in some detail how the association nominated candidates to contest the election to the Seanad via the Labour Panel. We described in depth how seriously we took this privilege and showed how nominated candidates who successfully secured election to the Seanad assisted the Irish Conference of Professional and Services Associations throughout their tenure in the Seanad. In this presentation we will expand on our original submission by dealing with membership of the ICPSA, representation in the Seanad - the ICPSA experience, the Seanad electoral process and some suggestions for the way forward.
During its formative years, the ICPSA represented a significant number of public service workers, including members of the teaching profession and civil servants. These trade unions are no longer affiliated to the Irish Conference of Professional Services Associations and, since their departure, the ICPSA has granted affiliate status to three Garda representative associations and two Permanent Defence Force representative associations. These associations alone represent between 20,000 and 25,000 employees and their unique status within society has been a challenge to the ICPSA. We, in the ICPSA, are acutely aware of the fact that these employees provide a necessary and often dangerous service for society and their ultimate goal is our security but they are excluded from all pillars of social partnership. In addition, because of the necessary restrictions imposed on these employees, coupled with the fact that they are often deployed during disputes to maintain essential services, special consideration must be made to ensure their voice is heard.
In this environment, membership of the Irish Conference of Professional and Services Associations is extremely important, partly because of the associations' Seanad nomination rights. These rights mean that the voices of members of the Defence Forces and the Garda Síochána can be heard in Seanad Éireann through Senators nominated by the ICPSA who successfully contest the Seanad election.
The ICPSA has been fortunate in that it has managed to build a successful working relationship with the ICPSA nominated candidates successfully elected to Seanad Éireann. In our written submission we mentioned the fact that the ICPSA nominated Senators attended our annual delegate meeting and, thus, were kept informed of the issues affecting affiliates. Motions passed at the annual delegate meeting set our agenda and the ICPSA Senators are particularly active in this regard. Thus, during the course of the year, the ICPSA meets regularly with the ICPSA Senators and progress on our agenda is discussed and additional research material provided, if appropriate. It can, therefore, be concluded that our relation with the Senators nominated by the ICPSA are valuable and important to the association and without their assistance we feel it is unlikely we would be able to make the progress we have made.
ICPSA nominated Senators have been invaluable to our affiliates in times of crisis. A prime example of this was the difficulty surrounding the development of the White Paper on defence. During this period our ICPSA nominated Senators provided both RACO and PDFORRA with significant support through representing us on the issue and providing us with timely access at Government level. More recently, another affiliate, the Irish Bank Officials Association, received similar support on the issue of out-sourcing information technology services from Bank of Ireland. Thus the ICPSA nominated Senators provide an invaluable service and, as a consequence, our experience of the Seanad has been very positive. We put this down to the maintenance of an active and vibrant relationship with the Irish Conference of Professional and Services Associations' nominated Senators.
Once the ICPSA exercises its Seanad nomination rights, it has no further say in the electoral process. In addition, unlike other interest groups, the ICPSA has no automatic right to Seanad representation and no voting rights whatsoever. There is a view prevailing that all graduates be given the opportunity to vote in Seanad elections. The implementation of this view may mean an alteration of the university constituencies and, possibly, an increase in the number of Seanad seats available within them.
There is also a view that the voices of Irish people living abroad and persons from Northern Ireland be represented in Seanad Éireann. The ICPSA agrees with these views in principle and would view such a development as a positive step towards making the Seanad more participative and, thereby, more relevant. The more representative the Seanad becomes, the more society will come to realise, as we have, that it is an important forum which not only monitors the work of the Lower House but also provides an input the Dáil cannot.
The ICPSA is also conscious that, apart from the university constituency, the electorate for the various panels consists of Members of the Oireachtas and county councillors. It has been suggested that the electorate is very narrow, and if society is to take the Seanad more seriously, perhaps the electorate should be extended. We, in the ICPSA, are undecided on this matter but believe consideration could be given to extending voting rights to nominating bodies. Overall, the Irish Conference of Professional and Services Associations contends that the extension of representation to all graduates, emigrants and persons from Northern Ireland would in principle be a positive development which should not dilute or diminish the rights of groups such as ourselves.
The ICPSA is a very positive supporter of Seanad Éireann and we sincerely believe that if more groups had a similar experience of Seanad Éireann, its reputation as a necessary and effective Upper Chamber would be enhanced accordingly. There is no doubt that many quarters in society believe the Seanad is a redundant institution which should, as a consequence, be disbanded. We, in the ICPSA, believe those who hold this view are misinformed and fail to understand the fact that a properly configured Upper Chamber brings a different but necessary perspective to the political process that cannot be provided by the Lower Chamber.
Very often, Senators are elected or nominated on this basis - that they can bring their experience and/or expertise to the Oireachtas, thereby providing a perspective which could not be obtained via the Lower House. If the Seanad is to rebut the "redundant" argument, it must become more inclusive. We, in the ICPSA, believe increasing both the representation and the electorate may make the Seanad even more relevant and enable it to increase its influence, thus rebutting the "redundant" argument.
