Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I thank Deputies Howlin and Burton for the opportunity to contribute to the debate at this point.

The economic crisis has led to a widespread debate not only about the nature of the Irish economy but also about how we are governed. There is justifiable anger among the people at how successive Governments they elected have so misgoverned and mismanaged this State that they have brought us to the brink of bankruptcy. A true democracy and a true Republic would instil confidence in people that we can and will solve our problems and move forward, but this State and the political system, as shaped by the two dominant conservative parties, has undermined that confidence and created disillusionment and cynicism.

Without question, we need to fundamentally reform the way we govern ourselves. However, let us be under no illusion. Successive Governments have acted in the way they have because they have represented, not the majority of the people who elected them, but the privileged minority which controls wealth in this State.

One statistic tells the whole story. One per cent of people in this State control 20% of the wealth. That speaks of a distorted economy but it also speaks of a distorted democracy. The two cannot be separated.

We need fundamental economic reform as well as political reform. Real democracy is the key to both. The people must be sovereign and as the Democratic Programme of the first Dáil states:

The Nation's sovereignty extends not only to all men and women of the Nation, but to all its material possessions, the Nation's soil and all its resources, all the wealth and all the wealth-producing processes within the Nation, and ... we reaffirm that all right to private property must be subordinated to the public right and welfare.

The Programme also states a principle that should underpin all efforts at democratic reform:

We declare that we desire our country to be ruled in accordance with the principles of Liberty, Equality and Justice for all, which alone can secure permanence of Government in the willing adhesion of the people.

The Sinn Féin Deputies endorse the programme of reform set out in the Labour Party motion. Many of the proposals echo those we have also advanced. The main focus of the reforms in the motion is the accountability of the Government to the Oireachtas and to the people. That accountability has been shredded in the past decade and a half.

The Government's regard for democratic accountability was shown in its refusal to hold the Donegal South West by-election until forced to do so by the High Court judgment in the case taken by Sinn Féin Senator Pearse Doherty. That refusal was for reasons of pure political expediency. It says much about the political malaise in this State that no Government had the integrity to introduce legislation to make by-elections mandatory after a set period had elapsed from the creation of the vacancy.

Sinn Féin would go much further than the proposals in this motion. We would see all of this in the context of the need to move towards Irish re-unification and to prepare the ground for an all-Ireland democracy. We would stress the need to increase the representation of women in politics. We would emphasise the need to respect the decisions of the people in referendums - a principle that was violated in both the second Nice treaty and Lisbon treaty referendums.

At the MacGill summer school this year Senator Pearse Doherty set out our views on the need for political reform. I wish to re-emphasise some of those points. The political culture we have is the one created by the political class who have held power since the foundation on the State. They are the architects of a system that protects their own interests and the interest of an elite at the top of Irish society. Laws that have their foundation in the outdated 1937 Constitution do not protect the rights of children nor the socio-economic rights of citizens. Our electoral system and the Oireachtas are not fit for a modern democracy. The electoral system has given us an Oireachtas that is largely male, middle class and hardly even middle-aged. It is not surprising that it is so unrepresentative. Many people have no engagement whatsoever with our electoral system. They are not on the electoral register and they do not vote. Those most estranged from our electoral system and from politics come from the most disadvantaged communities in the State.

Any reform to our political system must have as one of its first objectives to increase the participation of citizens, particularly those who currently do not participate, in the political process at all levels from voting to holding office. Getting on the electoral register should be simple and straightforward. PPS numbers should be used to avoid fraud, rather than putting hurdles in the path of those seeking to get on the register, as is the case currently. The process needs simplification, with automatic renewals of registered voters for starters. An independent electoral commission should take on this task rather than leave it to each local authority as is the case at present. An electoral commission could take on the task of voter education on elections. The most critical task of such a commission should be to increase turnout and numbers contesting seats at all tiers of representation. All elections should be on weekends to increase participation, with two-day polling considered. Voting age should be reduced to 16 and consideration should be given to reducing the age at which a person can run for the Dáil from 21 to 18. We need to do this to get more young people engaged in politics.

Irish citizens living outside the jurisdiction should be given the right to vote, as is the norm in most modern democracies - 115 countries to be exact. We need a radical overhaul of the electoral process in order to ensure that there is both a more democratic expression on the part of the population, including on an all-Ireland basis, and that the actual elected institutions are made more representative of the popular will.

Proportional representation should be strengthened through the introduction of larger, multi-seat constituencies. This would mean that the minimum number of seats in any constituency would be increased to five. That would ensure a much more accurate representation of parties based on their percentage vote in contrast to the current system that favours the largest parties, especially in three and four seat constituencies. There should also be an examination of how the party list system operates in other countries with consideration given to using such a system to elect a proportion of the Dáil.

We need to strengthen the role of Parliament. The Dáil can be made more effective. Small changes could empower the Opposition to be more effective and to make the Dáil more relevant to the lives of ordinary people. The Dáil needs to play a stronger role in holding the Government to account.

We need the Dáil to be much more spontaneous than it is at present. There should be big changes in terms of how legislation is brought through the Oireachtas and how the committees work. Committee chairs should be allocated proportionately, based on party strength and should not have any additional financial reward attached to them; they should not be a reward for loyal backbenchers of whatever party is in Government. Committees should also be given investigative powers, and there should be an obligation on the Government to consider proposals put forward by a committee.

Taking the fixation with local issues out of parliamentary elections cannot happen if there is a not a parallel reform and empowerment of local government in Ireland. Addressing the warped political culture in this State will require a radical shift that seeks an end to cronyism and the privileged position enjoyed by an elite.

We may not have a body of established lobbyists in the State, but what we have is something more insidious. We have politicians who are, in many cases, too close to those whom they are meant to regulate. Rewarding those close to oneself with positions on State boards, moving Departments to one's constituency, and ensuring sports clubs in one's constituency get a disproportionate share of funding when one is Minister are all examples of cronyism at work. Over recent years, we have had Government politicians too close to the property developers, property developers too close to bankers, and bankers too close to the regulator. Is it any surprise we are in the mess we are in?

After the 2007 general election, we saw a person who had been a Minister of State move straight to the head of the Construction Industry Federation. We need rules that prevent people making moves straight from Government to the heart of bodies trying to wield influence over Government policies. I welcome the clause to this effect in the Labour Party motion.

There needs to be an end to the circumstances in which positions on State boards are doled out as rewards to supporters of whatever party happens to be in government. There needs to be a cull of quangos and unelected bodies to cut back on waste and improve transparency and efficiency in decision making. The Sinn Féin Members will support the motion enthusiastically when it is put to the House.

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