MINISTER RICHARD BRUTON has been tasked with the job of returning a Yes vote in the upcoming referendum on the abolition of the Seanad.

The Taoiseach named the Jobs Minister as Fine Gael’s Director of Elections while at a jobs announcement in Cork this morning.

Enda Kenny said Bruton has been “passionate about public sector and political reform”, praised him for being innovative and detail-oriented and noted his ability to explain his ideas clearly.

The pair promised to mount a strong campaign in the coming weeks.

“If this Referendum approved by the people, I am convinced that we can and will create a better, more accountable and more effective political system,” said Kenny. ”A single-chamber Oireachtas will offer us better oversight, better scrutiny of legislation, and enhanced democracy with fewer politicians.”

Bruton will now set to work trying to prove to the people of Ireland that the upper house is “no longer an effective or appropriate part of Irish political life”.

“The questions that the Irish people are going to have to answer in this referendum are simple- do they want fewer national politicians? Do they want a national parliament that costs €20 million less per year to run?” he said at the event today.

“I strongly believe that we in the political system need to be more efficient and prudent, at a time when families and workers across the country are being asked to do the same…I will be working hard between now and the autumn to help convince people that we should vote yes for fewer politicians and yes for a less costly but more effective political system”.

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