Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This Bill emanates from a publicity stunt by the Taoiseach in October 2009. There was no consultation process or internal discussion within his party. He was courting publicity in an effort to attract the attention that the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy Gilmore, was receiving at the time and he needed a big fish to catch if he was to restore his fortunes. A policy announcement of this nature is normally the outcome of a process conducted within a party or organisation but the Taoiseach did not bother with that. He now feels compelled to honour his solo run by attempting to score a point. In light of the contributions by many speakers from his own party, he is clearly still on a solo run. I refer to Deputies Charles Flanagan and Olivia Mitchell from Fine Gael, as well as Deputies Tuffy and Spring from the Labour Party. I suggest that the contributions from these Deputies reflect the opinion of the majority of Members from their respective parties. They spoke of reform and acknowledged that the public wants a more modern and relevant Seanad.

A cursory glance at the Taoiseach's reform agenda as set out in manifestos and speeches during the course of the last Dáil and the election campaign shows that it is high on rhetoric and spin but poor on delivery. Prior to the election, he promised a new form of politics and a five point plan. He was not going to pay another red cent to the banks or touch child benefit. He was going to abolish upward only rent reviews. Roscommon Hospital accident and emergency department, Garda stations and Army barracks were to be kept open. With NewEra, he promised 100,000 jobs. Some people thought it was only the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, who thought this is what one does at elections.

Despite the failure to live up to any of these promises, the Taoiseach is adamant that he will honour the one promise he made on his own by giving the people an opportunity to abolish the Seanad. He might refer to the many reports on Seanad reform that he and his party colleagues supported at various times over the course of his political career instead of deciding on a whim to pursue this course. The content of the referendum has also been decided on a whim. Despite his misgivings about its current structure, which are evidently shared by many speakers in this debate, he is giving the people a simple choice between abolishing the Seanad or living with it. His attitude is that if the voters do not agree with abolishing the Seanad, they can live with it as it is.

This attitude has crept in to many aspects of his leadership in recent months. His means of dealing with dissenting voices is, "do as I say, not as I do" Government Deputies recently got the privilege to say what they wanted on this Bill but they still must vote as directed. Debate and formulation of policy is normally reserved as a democratic function of parliamentary organisations, whether Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil or the Labour Party, but that does not appear to apply in respect of the dominant party in Government. In such a context, how can we expect real reform or action that back up the Taoiseach's rhetoric?

Actions to back up the rhetoric are as far away today as consultation was when the Taoiseach embarked on this solo run.

The democratic revolution, which was the utterance of many members of Government and the Taoiseach, excited people and Members. In a similar manner to the pathetic attempts of the Tánaiste earlier today to defend the indefensible in regard to a 25% cut in special need assistants' hours, the Taoiseach and his trusty Government Whip, Deputy Paul Kehoe, say there has been huge reform. They will say the Dáil is sitting longer, a half day once a month to be exact. That, unfortunately, is a pathetic excuse for reform. On that half day once a month, no questions are asked of the Government and no votes are called. It simply seeks to pander to reform.

Members, in particular those in Government parties, should ask themselves whether they believe the mantra from Government that there has been a democratic revolution and that the Dáil been reformed and is more modern and relevant. I am afraid that is not the case. Until mid-March this year, 57% of Bills passed by the Dáil were guillotined on the instructions of the Government. Some 40% of Topical Issues in the House were dealt with by Ministers of State who were not even from the Department to which the Topical Issue was addressed. That is far from the promise made on how Topical Issues would be addressed. Friday sittings are nothing more than a farce. There are fewer committees and reduced membership of those which remain. There has been no movement on the promise to increase time allocated for oral questions. The Government promised, whether one agrees with it, to reduce the number of Deputies by 20 but instead reduced the number by eight. There has been no progress on the promise to relax rules on Cabinet confidentiality. A Minister went on another solo run when appearing on "The Late Late Show" in regard to ministerial report cards which were another whim, not that we ever expected them to be adhered to. Like everything else promised in the context of reform, it has not been adhered to. We were promised a constitutional day within 12 months, but of course that did not happen. The Constitutional Convention was to be set up and report to the House within 12 months, but of course that did not happen. I could go on about other detailed promises related to appointments to State boards, constituency staff and doing away with the constituency work of the Taoiseach and his Ministers. There were promises to tackle cronyism, or the Government's interpretation of it over 14 years. It was promised that the Taoiseach's Department would be halved in size. That is the constitutional reform and revolution which has taken place and something to stand over. All those promises have gone in the wind, but the one which remains is that made on a whim which sought to court publicity and favour and was the big fish caught to address the Taoiseach's popularity and standing but not that of his party.

I and my party believe that the Seanad as constituted by the people and drafted by the de Valera Government had potential, was well-meaning and had a significant role. I accept over time it has been hijacked by all political parties bar none. It is outdated in terms of its configuration and election and selection processes. The electorate is of the same opinion. I and my party believe the electorate deserves the option of a reformed Seanad and Oireachtas, and should be offered the opportunity to vote on such an option rather than on the contents of a whim, namely, whether to abolish the Seanad or live with it.

A fundamental overhaul of our political system is needed to tackle the big problems in politics. It requires a lot more than political and publicity stunts. The short-sighted solo run by the Taoiseach reminds me of the failings of his County Mayo as a footballing entity over recent years. They had a lot of possession and solo runs but were not good at putting the ball over the bar and winning all-Irelands. I saw them last year and this year and they seem to have corrected a lot of their failings. They have the potential to win an all-Ireland and might just do so. They were each man enough to stand up and address their failings.

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