Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)

I completely agree with Deputy Stagg that it is outrageous to take power away from Parliament by appointing unelected members to quangos and paying them too much money, although we probably would not agree on much else.

Most of us will agree that the House is in need of reform. The general consensus is that it does not function like a Parliament and it would be healthier if it was reformed. I had a frustrating experience today when I tabled an oral question to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. I was here for the duration of Question Time but my question did not come up because it was two questions away when the debate concluded. Of the 14 questions answered after priority questions, 11 were answered in the absence of the Deputies who tabled them. Obviously party colleagues are permitted to deal with the questions, which is a crazy practice. If a Deputy tables a question he or she should be here to deal with it. It was pure madness. I would have sat through the debate anyway because I was interested in hearing what Members had to say but it is a bad rule.

I will be delighted if the Government introduces reform and it will certainly earn my praise if it does so. However, some of the reforms will involve asking turkeys to vote for Christmas, which they do not like to do. Certain reforms would allow us to press the Government for greater accountability but there is a reluctance on the Government benches to expose themselves in this way.

From my experience of dealing with planning issues, I found local government to be poorly structured. The notion of electing councillors without allowing them to make decisions is madness.

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