Yesterday July 6th, we sat and watched as 326 amendments prepared to be discussed over four hours by Senators were reduced to six (yes, count them) amendments and the four hour time slot scheduled for the debate reduced due to Minister Harris leaving the session twice to vote in the Dáil. 

SIX amendments were all that the meeting could get through and Minister Harris left the Seanad TWICE to vote in the Dáil eating into the precious four hours allotted as we waited for him to return to discuss genuine improvements. The Minister wouldn't even agree what a Student Union was in the debate and skipped around defining it for Senator Norris, Hoey, Higgins, Flynn, Ruane, McDowell, Mullen and Craughwell.

We as students watched patiently as our fates were debated and we are upset that the Minister signalled that the time he used outside the Seanad would be returned to the Senators to discuss our education Bill, if the Leader of the Seanad set it as an order of business... but the minister refused to request the leader to add the time he took away from the important discussion. The leader and the deputy leader of the house appeared promptly for the next item at 7pm leaving students and voting citizens in the Seanad public gallery shocked at how the Senators were disrespected by Minister Harris.

The dishonesty and conduct of the government and in particular Minister Harris was appalling yesterday and marks a new low in policy making for students across the country. We attended as Unions, students and voters in good faith, as the bill being discussed - the HEA  Bill (Higher Education Authority Bill) will change education in Ireland for the next fifty years for us. As students and voters and citizens, we all helped in our own way to give suggestions to as many people as possible last week on how to make the Bill fairer and safer for students and teaching and professional staff in Universities. 

We are just a few of countless observers who've seen the opportunity for better engagement ignored or the discussion committee process mistreated by the Minister in the past two weeks in Seanad Éireann. In the era of Equity for all, this is not taking Equality of voters seriously. 

Earlier in the day the government announced the guillotine on the order of business for the day, so that the amendments for this Bill wouldn't be heard. Then the government denied it during the four hour Seanad debate, which was twice interrupted to allow Minister Harris to vote in the Dàil and slow senators down. 

Watching the Minister and the acting cathaoirleach (chair) try to humiliate our Seanad representatives by cutting speaking time in the Seanad is an assault on Irish democracy. Not only was this inadequate representation by the Minister, it disenfranchised senators - public representatives who are elected to protect us by discussing better and fairer legislation. 326 items cut to 6 is the treatment doled out yesterday by the government and it's unacceptable and must be addressed.   

With a government's own TDs failing to support their party in the Dáil (the lower house) yesterday July 6th, now is the moment to demand policy making which actually protects us as citizens in the Seanad (the upper house). If enough of us speak out now, we could let government know that we want the 320 items CHOPPED yesterday discussed in the Seanad next week as Senators were completely shut down by Minister Harris and the chair with 320 amendments left to discuss in the HEA Bill. 

Join us and sign the petition please to the government to intervene now and return the 320 amendments to be discussed next week. We need a citizen's assembly on higher education and more time to discuss our future for the next fifty years.

"Thank You"