The introduction of this Bill almost inevitably brings one up against the question of the attendance of Senators in this House. The large bulk of members of the House—I think the majority of the House—are exceedingly good in their attendance here, but there is one section of the House—a small section— which hardly ever graces the Chamber with their presence. There are at least two or three people who were never here more than two or three times since the Seanad was formed in 1922. I know the allowances to Senators are very small matters to those people. But the principle of taking money for service not rendered is an exceedingly bad one. If a workman, not out of employment, makes representation that he is out of employment and gets benefit thereby, he is open to prosecution and liable to sentence of imprisonment for a miserable 15/- per week, while people of birth and position and standing in the country are, for the last two or three years, taking money from a poor country for services they did not render.
That is not the most important part of the question. The House was established for the purpose of giving a very important element of the community representation. These people are selected because of the fact that they do represent important interests, but those people have abrogated their right to representation because they have failed to turn up, and I think in all decency and justice to the electorate they should resign their seats. We have the first triennial election going on now, and it is nothing short of a public scandal that three or four seats should be disfranchised in this House and not declared vacant for the purposes of election. What the reasons are for those people continuing their membership of the Seanad I cannot say, nor can I understand. I think they should declare their seats vacant and give the electorate an opportunity of sending someone here who would discharge the duties the House has intended for them. There were reasons why vacancies should not be created unduly up to now. They have disappeared, and the good example set in the case of Sir Horace Plunkett and Sir Hutcheson Poë should certainly be followed.