Subsidiarity and Seanad 1tireann
| Author | Micheal Marc Delehanty |
| Position | BA (Mod) (Dub), MA (Bristol), LLM (Cantab) |
| Pages | 133-146 |
SUBSIDIARITY
AND
SEANAD
EIREANN
MICHAEL MARC
DELEHANTY*
Introduction
Over
recent months
the role
of
the Seanad
in
Ireland's
democracy
has
been
placed under
the
spotlight.
The
well-worn
calls
for
reform have
given
way
to
the
prospect
of
outright
abolition:
the
McCarthy report
raised
this
possibility'
and
abolition
is
now
Fine
Gael
party
policy.'
Both
the
McCarthy
report
and
Enda
Kenny,
in
his
speech,
justified
their
stances
by
suggesting
that
second chambers
are
not
needed
in
countries,
like
Ireland,
of
a
small
size
and
with
non-federal
government.
It
is
submitted
that before
consigning
the
Seanad to
the
constitutional
rubbish
skip
it
is
worth
examining
not
merely
how
well
it
fulfils
its
current
functions
but
also
how
well
it
might
fulfil
other
functions
of
value
in
a
democratic
society.
It
is
not
proposed
to
tackle in-depth
the
vexed
issue
of
the
composition
of
the
Seanad,
rather
this
essay
will
examine
reform
of
the
powers exercised
by
the House
in
light
of
the
recent passage
into
law
of
the
Much
of
the
was
dedicated
to
improving
the
horizontal
functioning
of
the
EU
by
changing institutional
relationships
eg
with
the
creation
of
the
post
of
High
Representative
for
Foreign
Affairs
and
Security
Policy
3
and
in
increasing
the
European
Parliament's
legislative
capacity
via
the
expansion
of
the
"ordinary legislative
procedure."
4
However,
an
attempt
to enhance
the
vertical
functioning
of
the
EU
ie
the
relationship between
the
Union
and
its
Member
States has
also
been
made.
There
is
a
better
delineation
and
categorisation
of
competences'
Of
interest
here,
however,
is
the
innovation
in
the
role
of
national
parliaments
in
the
Union's
legislative process,
particularly
with
respect
to
subsidiarity
monitoring.
*
BA
(Mod) (Dub),
MA
(Bristol),
LLM (Cantab).
Report
of
the
Special
Group
on
Public
Service
Numbers
and
Expenditure
Programmes,
Volume
II:
Detailed
Papers,
at
149-150.
2
"Kenny Commits FG
to
Abolishing
Seanad and
Reducing
Number
of
TDs
by
20+", (Fine
Gael
Presidential
Dinner
Address
in
Dublin,
18
October
2009)
19
December
2009).
3
Article
18
TEU.
4
Article
294
TFEU
(ex
Article
251
EC).
5
Articles
2-6,
Title
I:
Categories
and Areas
of
Union
Competence, TFEU.
©
2010
Michael
Marc
Delehanty
and
Dublin
University Law
Society
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