Vol. 560 No. 1
865 Mr. Boyle asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his plans to implement the decision of the 1979 Constitutional amendment seeking to extend the franchise for elections to Seanad Éireann to all graduates of all third-level institutions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2072/03]
866 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government his plans to address the issue of the disparity between the rights of the students who attend Dublin City University, the University of Limerick and the Institutes of Technology with those of their peers attending Trinity College, University College Dublin and University College Cork and extend to them the right to vote on the university panel in the Seanad elections; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2087/03]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 865 and 866 together.
The relevant conclusions of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution in its seventh progress report, published in March 2002, advise in the eventual direction of abolishing, rather than extending, university representation in the Seanad. Against this background, I have no proposal at present to seek an extension of this representation but it is a matter that I will keep under review.
