How the Seanad is Elected (Upper House of Parliament)

This note is intended as a practical guide. It is not a legal interpretation of Seanad electoral law. For more information you should consult the law in relation to Seanad elections (see 16 below).

The Seanad is comprised of 60 members. Eleven members are nominated by the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), 6 members are elected by university graduates and 43 are elected from panels of candidates representing specified vocational interests.

Every citizen of Ireland over 21 years of age who is not disqualified by the Constitution or by law is eligible to be elected to the Seanad. A member of the Seanad is referred to as Seanadóir or Senator. Persons undergoing a prison sentence in excess of six months are disqualified for election. Certain occupations are incompatible with membership of the Seanad, for example, members of the judiciary, senior officials of the institutions of the European Union, civil servants, whole-time members of the Defence Forces and Gardaí (police).

A general election to the Seanad must take place not later than 90 days after the dissolution of the Dáil (Lower House). The dates for the various stages of the election (nomination, polling, etc.) are appointed by order of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The elections are held on the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote and by secret postal ballot.

Election of 43 Panel Members

Before each General Election five panels are formed of candidates having knowledge and practical experience of the following interests and services respectively:

1. Cultural and Educational Panel: - national language and culture, literature, art, education, law and medicine;
2. Agricultural Panel: - agricultural and allied interests and fisheries;
3. Labour Panel: - labour, whether organised or unorganised;
4. Industrial and Commercial Panel: - industry and commerce, including banking, finance, accountancy, engineering and architecture;
5. Administrative Panel: - public administration and social services, including voluntary social activities.

The Seanad returning officer (Clerk of the Seanad) maintains a register of bodies entitled to nominate candidates to the panels of candidates. To be eligible for registration as a nominating body, an organisation must be concerned mainly with and be representative of the interests and services of one or other of the panels. A body cannot be registered in respect of more than one panel.

Organisations which are mainly profit-making concerns are not eligible for registration. The register is revised annually.

There are two sub-panels for each panel: the Nominating Bodies sub-panel and the Oireachtas sub-panel. Each nominating body registered in respect of a panel may nominate a fixed number of candidates for that panel. These candidates comprise the nominating bodies' sub-panel of the different panels. Any four members of the newly elected Dáil or outgoing Seanad may nominate one candidate for any panel but each member may join in only one nomination. These candidates form the Oireachtas (Parliament) sub-panel. A specified minimum number of members must be elected for each sub-panel.

The following persons may vote at a general election of panel members:

• Members of the incoming Dáil,
• Members of the outgoing Seanad,
• Members of county councils, city councils and city and county councils.

Each elector has only one vote in respect of each panel even if he or she is qualified in more than one respect. The electorate numbers approximately 1,000.

The returning officer issues to each voter a list of the candidates nominated for each panel, indicating the bodies or persons who made the nominations. On the day appointed by order of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the returning officer sends by registered post to each voter five ballot papers (one for each panel) showing the names of the candidates in alphabetical order, their addresses and descriptions, photographs, if any and the sub-panel for which each is nominated. The political affiliation, if any, of the candidates is not shown on the ballot papers. The voter, after completing a declaration of identity in the presence of an authorised person, marks on each paper the order of their choice of candidates and returns the ballot papers by registered post to the returning officer.

There is a separate count for each panel. The ballot papers are sorted in accordance with the first preference shown on them. To facilitate counting each vote is given a value of 1,000. The appropriate value of his or her first preference votes is credited to each candidate. The quota is the minimum number of votes necessary to guarantee the election of a candidate. It is ascertained by dividing the total value of the valid votes by one more than the number of seats to be filled and adding one to the result. If, for example, the total value of the votes cast in relation to a panel is 900,000 and there are 5 seats to be filled, the quota will be 150,001, that is 0.9m÷(6+1)

It will be seen that, in this example, only five candidates (the number to be elected) could possibly reach the quota.

If the value of a candidate's votes equals or exceeds the quota, they are deemed elected unless their election would make impossible the election of the minimum number of members from each sub-panel (see 9 above). If a candidate receives more than a quota, the surplus is distributed to the remaining candidates in accordance with the next effective preference shown on the ballot papers. Where the maximum number of candidates has been elected for a sub-panel, the values of the votes of the remaining candidates on that sub-panel are distributed in accordance with the next effective preference shown on the ballot papers concerned. If no candidate has a surplus, the lowest candidate is excluded and his or her votes distributed at the value at which he or she received them. A candidate cannot, however, be excluded if his or her exclusion would make impossible the election of the minimum number of members from each sub-panel.

When a casual vacancy occurs in the Seanad through the death, disqualification or resignation of a panel member, the vacancy is filled by bye-election. Nine members of the Oireachtas may nominate a candidate in relation to an Oireachtas sub-panel vacancy; a nominating body for the relevant panel may nominate a candidate for a vacancy in a nominating bodies sub-panel. The electorate at a bye-election is composed of the members of the Dáil and Seanad, 234 in all. Voting is by secret postal ballot. The counting procedure is the same as at a Seanad General Election but without the modification necessary to ensure that a minimum number is elected from each sub-panel.

Election of 6 Higher Education Members

Constituencies

Until recently, the constituencies for the election of Higher Education members to the Seanad were the National University of Ireland (NUI) and the University of Dublin (Trinity College Dublin). Each elected 3 members. This has changed following the enactment of the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Act 2024. At the next Seanad General Election, a new six-seat ‘Higher Education’ constituency will replace the two existing three-seat ‘University of Ireland’ and ‘University of Dublin’ constituencies. The six ‘Higher Education’ members will be elected by Designated Institutions of Higher Education.

Who can vote?

Graduates of any Designated Institution of Higher Education in Ireland aged 18 years or over who are Irish citizens will be eligible to be electors in a new six-seat ‘Higher Education’ constituency. The included institutions are NUI, the University of Dublin – Trinity College and those designated under the Higher Education Authority Act 2022. At present, these are the seven traditional universities, the technical universities, the institutes of technology, the National College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

Those who wish to apply to be on the register of electors for the ‘Higher Education constituency’ can do so at www.seanadvoter.ie.

Nomination of candidates

A person may nominate himself or herself as a candidate at an electionin the Higher Education constituency or may, with his or her consent, be nominated by another person (being a person registered as an elector in the Higher Education constituency) as proposer. A candidate’s nomination must be assented to by 60 registered electors (excluding the candidate and any proposer) in the Higher Education constituency. Alternatively, a candidate can make a deposit of €1,800 to secure their nomination. Where a candidate chooses to pay a deposit, this fee will be returned to them if they are elected. There is no requirement that a candidate must be a graduate of the Designated Institution of Higher Education concerned or be connected with it in any way.

Free postage for candidates

Each candidate at a Seanad ‘Higher Education’ constituency election is entitled to send one election letter, free of postage charge, to each elector in the Higher Education constituency. The cost of the facility is met by the Exchequer.

General Election

Within 7 days of the dissolution of the Dáil, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage is required to appoint the relevant dates for the conduct of a general election of Higher Education members to the Seanad. A ‘Higher Education’ constituency election is conducted by a returning officer, who is the Vice-Chancellor of NUI. Voting is by post and the election is held in accordance with the principles of proportional representation, each elector having a single transferable vote. When issuing ballot papers, the returning officer also issues a form of declaration of identity, which must be completed by the elector in the presence of a witness and returned with the ballot paper. The count is conducted in the same manner as a count at an election of members to the Dáil.

Bye-elections

An interim period will apply between 21 March 2025 and the date of the first dissolution of the Dáil after that date. If a vacancy arises following the death or resignation of a Senator from either of the existing NUI or University of Dublin constituencies during the interim period, a bye-election for the relevant constituency will take place. The register for the relevant constituency (NUI or Trinity College) will be comprised of graduates of the relevant university who are registered for the ‘Higher Education’ register of electors. This means that graduates with a degree from the relevant institution will be included on the register of electors for the bye-election.

After the next Seanad General Election, when a casual vacancy occurs through the death, disqualification or resignation of a Higher Education member, the vacancy will be filled through a bye-election of the ‘Higher Education’ constituency. The procedure at a bye-election will be the same as that for the election of Higher Education members at a Seanad General Election.

The acceptance of donations for political purposes is governed by law. Elected public representatives and candidates for election may not accept a donation from a person in a particular year that exceeds €1,000. In the case of a political party or campaign group, the maximum donation that may be accepted cannot exceed €2,500. The acceptance of donations from a non-Irish citizen residing abroad is prohibited.

A ‘corporate donor’ that wishes to make a donation greater than €200 to a candidate, elected representative, political party or third party campaign group must be registered with the Standards in Public Office Commission. A donation above this amount from a registered corporate donor must be accompanied by a statement that the making of the donation was approved by the members, shareholders or trustees of the donating body. The maximum amount that can be accepted from a ‘corporate donor’ which is not registered is €200. A corporate donor is defined as (i) a body corporate, (ii) an unincorporated body of persons, or (iii) a trust.

The maximum amount that can be accepted as a cash donation in the same year is €200.

An unsuccessful candidate at a Seanad election is required to furnish to the Standards in Public Offices Commission, within 56 days of the close of the poll at the election, a statement indicating whether any donations exceeding €600 were received by them for the election and giving particulars of any such donations and the persons who made them. Each member of the Seanad is required to furnish to the Public Offices Commission, by 31st January each year, a similar donation statement in respect of the preceding calendar year.

In addition each political party is required to furnish to the Standards in Public Offices Commission, by 31st March each year, a statement indicating whether any donations exceeding €2,500 were received by it and giving particulars of any such donations and the persons who made them.

The law relating to the election of members to the Seanad is mainly contained in the following legal provisions, as amended:

• Articles 18 and 19 of the Constitution of Ireland,
• the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Act, 1947,
• the Seanad Electoral (University Members) Act, 1937,
• the Electoral Act, 1997,
• Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Act 2024.

Other leaflets available in this series on the Department’s website (www. gov.ie/housing) are as follows:

• How the President is Elected
• The Referendum in Ireland
• How the Dáil (House of Representatives) is Elected
• European Parliament: How Ireland's Representatives are Elected
• How Members of Local Authorities are Elected
• The Register of Electors
• Information for Voters with Disabilities