Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I am looking for vision in political reform, but I do not see it. We are seeing piecemeal changes, some of which are welcome. If we are to rebuild our democracy, we must have a vision for the democracy we want to see in five or ten years.

The Bill provides for a reduction in expenditure to €750,000 for a Presidential election candidate, which I welcome. However, we could go further. The recoupable amount is €250,000; therefore, from where will the other €500,000 come? It will come from corporate donations and so on. We cannot criticise this and then allow an amount which provides no option for serious candidates but to raise funds in that way.

We would not be looking at a change in the by-election system were it not for the fact that a court case was taken. Every excuse under the sun was given for not holding a by-election the last time around when the Government claimed it was too busy. I took a seat in a by-election and know that on the vast majority of days when a candidate is out canvassing he or she will not see anybody from the Government. Government politicians show up on the last weekend, on which I could write the book. The Government was just trying to give excuses because it did not want to go before the electorate.

The Bill to redraw constituencies should always postdate the census. The Government excelled itself this time by publishing the Bill before the findings of the census were made available and then discovered that the figure of 152 would make the Bill repugnant to the Constitution. Each vote for each citizen should be equal. I felt so strongly about this issue that with Deputy Finian McGrath I commenced a constitutional challenge in 2007 after the 2006 census figures had showed wide variations in constituencies. The 2006 census figures were not used in redrawing boundaries. That challenge was successful and had the effect of changing the law; therefore, the preliminary census figures are now being used to trigger a redrawing of constituencies which will take practical effect in 2016, or whenever the Government ceases to have the support of the Parliament. Given the size of the Government, it looks like it could happen in 2016.

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