Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

As Senator Sheahan indicated, we intend to be a radical, reforming Government and I hope our efforts will be given a fair wind.

Senator Mooney, who is unfortunately no longer present, referred to the separation of powers and his fear that he was both in favour of and opposed to the legislation. I heard a similar tone in many speakers' contributions. Maintaining the status quo is always easier than taking a step forward but we must take a step forward on this issue.

Senator Mooney also referred to a number of other vehicles for inquiry, namely, the type of inquiry that produced the Cloyne report and inquiries under the original 1921 Act, all of which will remain in place. The Houses will have options when making a determination. The Senator also referred to the mother of parliaments. Westminster has various instruments available to it, one of which, the Crown inquiry, is normally but not necessarily conducted by an eminent judge. The Saville inquiry was an example of this type of inquiry. We have seen how effective parliamentary inquiries can be in the United Kingdom in the case of the most recent controversy surrounding phone-tapping. In that case, individuals were brought before a parliamentary committee and asked questions directly, which is not possible in the Oireachtas.

We want to make the Oireachtas more effective in doing the people's business. This is an important but not excessively radical step. We must convince people to support the proposal, which will involve debunking some straw men which will be put up to confuse issues.