Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)

The convention will also be called on examine issues in respect of the office of the President that are central to the proposals put forward today. For example, the convention will be considering the issue of reducing the presidential term to five years and aligning it with the local and European elections. Recently, the Taoiseach indicated in the Dáil that the criteria and process for nomination for the office of the President can be discussed by the convention.

The programme for Government provides that the convention will also consider and report on other relevant constitutional amendments that might be recommended by it. The question of how the convention will be set up and how it will operate is being actively considered. The Taoiseach has signalled his intention to invite Opposition leaders to meet him shortly to discuss the proposed convention, hopefully before the House rises for the Christmas recess. I note that referendums give rise to thoughts about how they should be brought forward. For example, should they be held on the same day or on separate days? If one opts to run with individual proposals there is an extra cost involved and it may not generate much public interest. On the other hand, if one globalises the proposed changes one risks reducing the scope for differentiation between the constituent proposals. The proposals in this Bill have come soon after the recent election. As I suggested in my earlier remarks, this has the advantage of raising issues while they are fresh in our memories.

In general, I take the view that the nomination process worked out well in the end. We saw local authorities becoming fully involved in the process of exercising their constitutional prerogative. Only in the past three presidential elections have we seen this active participation by local authorities in the nomination process. It is fair to say that in the recent election there was a certain maturity in the way they went about their business. Four of the seven candidates participating in the election were independents. Local councils, which are political bodies and democratically elected, played a pivotal role in enabling these independent candidates to pursue their electoral ambitions. We should be mindful of the local government contribution in any consideration given to the nomination procedures for the presidency.

I conclude by reiterating that the Government is committed to reform. We are confident in our ability to bring about meaningful change. We realise we do not have a monopoly of wisdom or good ideas when it comes to reform and I encourage participation by all in the House in these reform measures. There will be ample opportunity for engagement and involvement.

On behalf of the Government, I am opposing the Bill in the context of the proposed convention on the Constitution and the invitation to the leaders on all sides to participate in it.

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