Public Consultation Overview for General Scheme for the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024

The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage invites submissions on the General Scheme of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024, with a closing date of 14 June 2024.

The general scheme includes provisions relating to:

• extending the franchise for electing university members of Seanad Éireann to graduates who are Irish citizens and who hold a degree from a designated institution of higher education in Ireland (i.e. designated under section 53 or section 54 of the Higher Education Authority Act 2022)
• establishing a new six-seat ‘Higher Education’ constituency for electing University members of Seanad Éireann, to replace the existing NUI and University of Dublin university constituencies
• the eligibility criteria for being an elector of the ‘Higher Education’ constituency: (i) aged 18 years or more (ii) an Irish citizen (iii) a graduate of a designated institution with each elector limited to one vote
• the registration of electors for the Higher Education constituency
• the appointment of a returning officer and other arrangements for the taking of the poll and
• a system for the filling of casual vacancies arising in the ‘Higher Education’ constituency to replace the existing by-election system for the NUI and University of Dublin constituencies.

In order to inform the further development of the draft legislation, submissions are invited from stakeholders and interested parties on the General Scheme for the proposed Bill which is available to read below.

Submissions can be made by e-mail with Consultation on General Scheme for the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the subject line to Franchise@housing.gov.ie, or by post to Franchise Unit, Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Custom House. Dublin 1, D01 W6X0 by 5.00 pm, Friday, 14 June 2024.

General Scheme for the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024

All submissions and comments submitted to the department for this purpose are subject to release under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2014 and the European Communities (Access to Information on the Environment) Regulations 2007-2014. Submissions are also subject to Data Protection legislation.

Personal, confidential or commercially sensitive information should not be included in your submission and it will be presumed that all information contained in your submission is releasable under the Freedom of Information Act 2014.

The department will fully assess all responses to the present consultation before finalising the proposals. The department encourages interested parties to submit their views on the General Scheme of the proposed Bill. Following completion of the public consultation on 14 June 2024, detailed drafting of the Bill will be completed.

Please note that submissions received may be made available on the department’s website, unless otherwise requested. In any event, all submissions received will be subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act and Data Protection legislation. See also the Privacy Statement above.