Seanad Éireann

Seanad Éireann Senate of Ireland
25th Seanad
Type
Type	Upper house of the Oireachtas
Leadership
Cathaoirleach	Denis O'Donovan (FF) Since 8 June 2016
Leas-Chathaoirleach	Paul Coghlan (FG) Since 16 June 2016
Leader	Jerry Buttimer (FG) Since 8 June 2016
Deputy Leader	Catherine Noone (FG) Since 1 July 2016
Opposition Leader	Catherine Ardagh (FF) Since 18 May 2016
Structure
Seats	60
Political groups	Government      Fine Gael (19) Opposition      Fianna Fáil (14)      Sinn Féin (7)      Labour Party (5)      Green Party (1)      Independent (14)
Elections
Last election	24 April 2016
Meeting place
Seanad chamber Leinster House, Dublin
Website
www.oireachtas.ie

Government

Opposition

Seanad Éireann (/ˌʃænəd, -ð ˈɛərən/;Senate of Ireland) is the government upper house of the Oireachtas (the Irish legislature), which also comprises the President of Ireland and Dáil Éireann (the lower house). It is commonly called the Seanad or Senate and its members senators (seanadóirí in Irish, singular: seanadóir). Except Dáil Éireann, it is not directly elected but consists of a mixture of members chosen by various methods. Its powers are much weaker than those of the Dáil and it can only delay laws with which it disagrees, rather than veto them outright. It has been located, since its establishment, in Leinster House.

Under Article 18 of the Constitution, Seanad Éireann consists of sixty senators, composed as follows:

The general election for the Seanad must occur not later than 90 days after the dissolution of Dáil Éireann. The election occurs under the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (in the panel constituencies each vote counts as 1000, allowing fractions of votes to be more easily transferred). Membership is open to all Irish citizens over 21, but a senator cannot also be a member of Dáil Éireann. However, as stated above, nomination to vocational panel seats is restricted; nomination in the University constituencies requires signatures of 10 graduates.