Seanad report:Cathaoirleach Rory Kiely welcomed five new members to the House - Donie Cassidy, Seán Dorgan, Peter Sands and Chris Wall, who replace nominees of the Taoiseach who were elected to the 30th Dáil. The fifth is Colm O'Gorman (PD), who replaces the late Kate Walsh.
However, the welcoming mood was short-lived. David Norris (Ind) suggested that the Seanad could be rechristened the "cuckoo's nest" because of the people who had been parachuted into the House for a mere two days in order to get parking privileges.
Joe O'Toole (Ind) asked that, at a time when they were in the middle of "this embarrassing, unrepresentative, undemocratic, anachronistic, elitist Seanad election process", they record that they were not afraid to grasp the nettle of Seanad reform. "Let's grasp the nettle and put it into play." He would like to see Minister for the Environment John Gormley invited to the House to spell out how he intended to implement the recommendations of the Seanad reform report in order to give every citizen a hand in the selection of members of the second house of parliament.
Shane Ross (Ind) said he believed that the commitment of Fianna Fáil to the House was wafer thin. Some of those recently appointed to the Seanad were there for purely party political purposes. Mr Ross said he regretted deeply the fact that Fianna Fáil was launching an attack on the university seats.
Seán Dardis (PD), deputy Government leader in the House, said the template for Seanad reform existed in the report that had already been prepared. There was a consensus as to the way forward. As far as he was aware, there was also a commitment in the Programme for Government to progress these matters.
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Paddy Burke ((FG) and Camillus Glynn (FF) expressed concern about possible changes in the role of the community welfare officer. Mr Bourke said that if the officers were absorbed into the Department of Social Welfare, they would be civil servants and would not able to operate in the way they had done previously.