Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this important debate on Dáil reform, especially as a new Deputy. We all recognise that Dáil Éireann is a reflection of Irish society and every Member elected to this House is charged with electoral responsibilities to reflect the views of those we represent, but also to make decisions in the interests of the greater good of this country. As a new Deputy, one of my biggest challenges is to find adequate time for speaking slots, in spite of the co-operation of the Chief Whip. There is difficulty in trying to get adequate slots on the various debates. Through shared time and other mechanisms, we will have to try to improve this so that every Deputy, from all parties and none, will have the opportunity to express his or her views. Most new Deputies are already finding new ways to maximise their impact in the Dáil. There are other fora and platforms that will assist in this process.

The most important thing is that Dáil Éireann is accountable to the people it represents. It must also be very transparent in its workings. It is essential that democratically elected parliamentarians of whatever hue are taken seriously by the Government and by the Civil Service, so that all views are taken on board. We heard during the last Dáil that we would not have the Punch and Judy show anymore, but I can recall at the time that the only show in town was about resolving the banking crisis. If there was proper engagement and if the Government of the day listened to the Opposition then we would not be in the economic mess we are in today.

Ministers and elected parliamentarians need to take power back from the various executives that have been set up over the last few years. Many powers of the elected Members have been ceded to the various executives. There was recent controversy with the HSE's fair deal, where taxpayers' money allocated in a vote under one heading was spent in other areas. That creates a problem when the Minister for Health tries to explain how the HSE has mishandled the issue, even though authority has been ceded to the HSE by a previous Minister and Government. I fully support the current Minister's effort to reconnect the Department of Health with the HSE across many areas. In the longer term, when time and re-organisation permits, I will support his effort to restructure the HSE. The Minister for Health should be the accountable person for how public funds are spent in health areas.

Another example is the National Roads Authority. It has done magnificent work over recent years and we can see that in the motorways, highways and byways. If I table a parliamentary question to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, as I have done in the past, for example, about the lack of services on the motorway between Waterford and Dublin, the Minister is excluded from responding to my query which is referred to the NRA. We need to bring the executive authorities of these bodies back to Dáil Éireann and make them properly accountable to the Minister.

I agree with much of what Deputy Stagg said about the need for reform not only in Dáil Éireann but also in the political system generally. We were talking about proposals to abolish the Seanad. In New Zealand, two new legislative stages were introduced to substitute for the loss of the second House. We need to consider all those options in order that any legislation that passes through the Chamber is subjected to proper and full scrutiny.

We need to be careful, when we are reforming, that we do not throw the baby out with the bathwater. We must not undermine democratic accountability. In fact, we need to enhance it. The committee system is an excellent way of doing this. I make the point to the Minister of State, Deputy Kehoe, that as soon as the committees are established and working, the sooner we can have real engagement in developing policy based on proposals from all parties, the better it will be for Government and society.

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