Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

Acknowledging the need for reform, as the Minister of State did in his speech, is no substitute for action. If he can succeed in ensuring that the Government accepts even a modicum of reform, that will be an achievement. However, I am not convinced the Government is serious about Dáil reform. Its track record in this regard speaks for itself.

While I am disappointed with the narrow thrust of the Fine Gael motion, I and my colleagues certainly do not propose to vote for the Government's self-serving amendment which ignores the realities facing all of us. This is not a time for encouraging a corrosive cynicism in politics. Rather, it is a time for strengthening representative democracy.

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