Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I welcome the motion from the Technical Group and I welcome the commitment to what is a priority for the Government contained in the programme for Government. Unfortunately, the big idea from the Technical Group is to turn the Dáil into a collection of Independents. They want us to be recreated in their image and likeness. They want to abolish the political party system. I must tell them that politics is a serious business and representative democracy requires teamwork, policies and collective action. Independents, by their nature, are individual politicians and as such are something of a political luxury that a parliament can tolerate or accommodate. Nevertheless, there is no parliament composed entirely of Independents that could function effectively, as Deputy Stagg has clearly noted.

Ironically, the Independents have recognised the contradictions in their own status by now combining in a Technical Group which is not that far from a party. For all practical purposes they have become a political grouping to function in the Dáil; they even have a Whip or perhaps a couple of Whips. They speak with many voices but vote as one.

The amendment proposed by the Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, contains a package of proposals which is far superior to the rather minuscule set of proposals outlined in the original motion. It would be very interesting if the Independents followed the advice in their own proposal, which suggests the abolition of the political Whip system to allow individual Members to vote according to their conscience and not by instruction. Will they practice what they preach? If they do they will observe that the package of proposals coming from the Government is far superior to what they tabled and they should exercise their individual conscience by supporting the Government's amendment. That would be an obvious action if they are to follow their advice in telling Members to vote with their conscience.

The extent of the reform proposed by the Government is absolutely unprecedented. Local government is to be reformed and the role of the Oireachtas will be enhanced through significant investigative powers to be vested in committees. A constitutional convention is to be held to consider wide-ranging political and constitutional reforms and it has already been announced that there will be a 30% gender quota, to be increased to 40% after the next election. These will radically reform the political system, and it is the first programme of Government in the history of the State which has made such comprehensive reforms a priority.

I will speak for a moment about an area which has not yet been mentioned, the role of national parliaments with regard to the European Union. Ireland's stance in the European Union has been diminished in recent years with a negative consequence on our political and economic well-being. This programme for Government is the first to contain a detailed set of proposals to transform our relationship with the European Union and bring European matters to the heart of Oireachtas proceedings.

European Union policy and legislative proposals will be subject to proper scrutiny, which has not happened in the past. Each committee will share the burden of dealing with policies and proposals relevant to their remit. Legislation will no longer be processed on the nod through statutory instruments, as has been the custom in the past, and Ministers will now be held to account by committees before attending meetings in the European Union. Likewise, the Taoiseach will be obliged to brief the Dáil before attending European Council meetings. That never happened in the past, although the Taoiseach may have attended the House a week or two later to relate what he was told by the representatives of Germany or France.

There will be an important new role for this Parliament in ensuring that the policies of the EU comply with the principle of subsidiarity, thus giving the Oireachtas a watchdog role as protector of the national interest in all European matters. For the first time, the Oireachtas will be proactive and instigate proposals for the draft annual work programme of the European Commission. The Oireachtas will also link with the offices of the European Commission and the European Parliament to engage in a wide range of in-house and outreach activities in communicating the European project to the Irish people. Proper engagement with Europe will enable Ireland to lead from the front instead of having to pick up the pieces when things go wrong.

If the Technical Group had enough time to read the full and comprehensive programme for reform, I am sure the members would have no problem voting for the Government amendment to the motion.

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