A group of ten Senators has written to Leo Varadkar seeking a date for the first sitting of the Seanad, without the Taoiseach's 11 nominees, so that legislation can be passed
The group which includes the former Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, and Labour's Ivana Bacik, does not accept that the Upper House cannot legally operate until a new government is formed.
"It is now over two months since the Seanad elections concluded, and longer since the general election, and government talks continue with no clear end point. Our democratic assembly should not be frozen out from legislating," the letter states. While 49 members of the Seanad have already been elected, 11 must be nominated by an incoming Taoiseach. Without agreement on a new government, they cannot be appointed meaning the Upper House is incomplete.
"We are asking that the Taoiseach would clarify his understanding of the law. We are asking him in particular to confirm that he can advise the President to convene the Seanad without the need to appoint the 11 nominees. We want the Seanad to sit so that we can go about our business, to be back in the Seanad Chamber and able to legislate," she told RTÉ News.
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