The Seventh amendment was introduced by Minister for Education John Wilson for the Fianna Fáil government.

It may be argued that the arrangements for the election of Members to the Seanad in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs (i) and (ii) of section 4 of Article 18 would automatically lapse to the relevant extent if one or both of the named universities ceased to exist.

[3] The referendum was held on the same day as the Sixth Amendment, which dealt with the validity of certain child adoption orders, and was approved on a low turnout by 552,600 (92.4%) votes in favour to 45,484 (7.6%) against.

In February 2014, it published a draft Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill, which would create a single six-seat constituency in which anyone with a degree-level qualification from a recognised institution would be eligible to vote.

[8] In 2015, the Working Group on Seanad Reform appointed by the government issued its report (the "Manning report"), which endorsed the 2014 bill but also recommended that 30 of the 43 Vocational panel senators should be directly elected, and that university graduate voters would have to choose between voting in the university constituency or one of the five panel constituencies.

They have served us well, although they should be reformed to implement the result of the 1979 referendum and open up the franchise to graduates of all higher level institutions of education.

The committee was chaired by former Minister for Justice, Attorney General and Tánaiste Michael McDowell, and reported to the Taoiseach in December 2018.

[17] Attempts by the Civil Engagement Group to include Seanad reform in the Electoral Commission legislation failed and the Fianna Fáil bill came to third stage debate on 5 July 2023.

During a debate in the Seanad in September 2023, Varadkar said "I always felt that there would not be consensus on reform and that that was going to be one of the difficulties...There is a case for indirect election of a second Chamber, if we are going to have one.

[23] The government published a General Scheme for the Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill for consultation in May 2024.