Peter Power (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

With the exception of the last comment, I agree with much of what Deputy Connaughton says.

We have had a very good debate. The introduction of this Bill gives Members of the House an opportunity to discuss the way in which this House and our wider democracy work. We were fortunate to have very constructive comments by members of the committee, from Deputies Pat Rabbitte, Dan Neville and David Stanton and, not least, from the Ceann Comhairle, the chairman of the commission. With all respect, I hope the debate will inform the Ceann Comhairle's role as he take up his tenure in office.

This debate illustrates the need for a forum with a wider remit, rather than a formal forum. The contributions in the House were made with passion by people who care deeply about this House and its effectiveness. They came from both Government and Opposition sides. I think particularly of the contribution by the Minister of State, Deputy Dick Roche.

Before answering specific questions, I make a general point. We do ourselves a disservice in this House. To some degree we have a lack of self-confidence. The country is in crisis at present and the people are looking for leadership, from the Executive and this Parliament. If one turns on television any night of the week, the first, second and third items will be the proceedings in this House. The citizens of this country are looking in, seeking leadership, guidance and vision. What do they see? Often they see grown men and women shouting at each other like babies in a crèche. We do ourselves a disservice by acting in that way.

There are real choices to be made in the way we manage this crisis. There is great experience and expertise on both sides of this House and we can collaborate collectively to guide our nation out of the difficulties we face. However, the image we present to the people who elect us, our constituents, does no service to the ability, dedication and hard work of the Members of this House. We bring ourselves into disrepute. Often, one's contribution depends on how loud one can shout or the smartest comment a Deputy can make at any given time. That does no service to anybody in this House.

I make those points at the outset because Deputies Richard Bruton and Pat Rabbitte, in particular, have made very constructive commentary. Deputy Bruton asked about the substantial increase in the expenditure of the House. Much of that related to the increase in the salaries of new staff in the House. We have had to cut this in recent weeks but very substantial increases were made. We spent €11 million on improving information technology in the past three years, to the benefit of all Members of the House. We spent €14 million on severance packages for Members who lost their seats in the last election. No doubt that sum will be down at the next election, but there was a substantial commitment in that area.

Deputy Bruton made the point that each year an agency, whether this agency or this House, comes to Government with the same budget. The question is how we can increase the budget year on year. The budget for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is down by €30 million from the previous occasion and the commission must operate within that framework. I accept the general point the Deputy makes. He also said that reform runs in the family. I would like to think it runs in the wider family.

Regardless of whether we like it, the committee structures have served this House effectively in many instances. The finest hour of this House in recent years was the DIRT inquiry. We must engineer a situation where we can get back to fora such as that, ensure that this House is accountable to the people and show them the House really works. Deputy Rabbitte served on that committee. It raises the question whether, under the auspices of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, the Members of this House should set up a forum or some other way by which we can express our views outside the pressure-cooker atmosphere of this House, and beyond the limited time available for this debate. People have real contributions to make.

Many other contributions were made that I would like to address but I shall finish on one, namely, references made by Deputy Rabbitte to the Fourth Estate and its contribution on the proceedings of this House. I genuinely believe the commission should respond in its own right to some of the very unjust attacks made on this House and on individual Members by members of the media. Some recent broadcast media and radio programmes basically tried to dumb down the contributions of Members of this House. The commission ought to and may take a more proactive role in defending the honour and integrity of Members of this House.

I would make other points but time does not permit me.

Question, "That the Bill be read a Second Time", put and declared carried.

See this speech in context