Exciting changes are on the horizon for the Seanad as the Government prepares to approve the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2024. This bill will introduce a new six-seat ‘Higher Education’ constituency, replacing the current NUI and University of Dublin constituencies for electing university members.
The reform will expand the voting rights to all Irish citizen graduates of higher education institutions and eliminate the existing two three-seat constituencies. Although the legislation will likely reach the Dáil soon, the changes won’t be implemented until around 2030.
These revisions stem from a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the current election process for university members. The court mandated a change by May 2025 due to the failure to update the provisions of the 1937 Seanad Electoral Act to include graduates from other institutions besides NUI and TCD, as required by the Constitution.
This development comes after a case brought by Tomás Heneghan, a University of Limerick graduate, highlighting the need for fair and inclusive elections for all university members of the Seanad.