Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for a very underwhelming reply to my question. I do not at all accept that what he has put before us is a radical series of Dáil reform or Oireachtas reform measures. The programme for Government stated that the people demanded change and looked to parties that would deliver the change they sought. The people are very disappointed at the lack of any radical change to how we do politics in this country and in particular changes to how the Oireachtas does its business. Fundamentally, people thought the Parliament would be freed from the stranglehold of the Executive, the Government of the day, but the opposite has been the case. The Government, through its huge majority in the Dáil, has made this Dáil a creature of the Cabinet to a degree we have not previously experienced.

The greatest example of that has been the frequent use of the guillotine on sensitive and controversial Bills to spare the blushes of Government backbenchers and particularly Labour Party backbenchers. This has applied to very significant issues such as the property tax on two occasions. More than 12 months ago, all Stages of the legislation underpinning the property tax were rushed through this House in a matter of about three hours to prevent debate. The same has applied to successive social welfare Bills. There was no debate on controversial issues such as child benefit and the Bills were just rammed through the House.

Time and time again the Government orders the schedule of the House, decides what gets debated and for how long. The Minister of State talked about Friday sittings which are a sham. He should not present that as radical reform. People can certainly produce Bills - the Opposition have been very productive in the publication of Bills. However, the Government is not accepting Bills. It occasionally allows them to pass Second Stage and then buries them. It took years to get Senator Quinn's subcontractor's Bill passed.

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