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

I thank Deputy Mathews for his kind comments and his erudite contribution which goes to the heart of much of what is wrong with our Parliament. The Parliament has not moved with the times and is losing its relevance to the public. When I mentioned the Chairpersons of various committees, the Minister of State took umbrage, yet in advance of the Seanad referendum, the Government produced a Dáil reform package. In that package was a proposal that we should have a d'Hondt methodology around the chairmanship of parliamentary committees, meaning there should be a pro rata distribution of chairmanships among the various parties in the House. What did the Government do but defer that until after the next general election. It chose not to implement that proposal for the duration of this Parliament, but now the Minister of State has attacked me for making a valid statement that the Executive controls the House and the committees. Yet, in terms of the recent Garda scandal of the penalty points issue, it was the Committee of Public Accounts that managed to get that issue onto the agenda. Strenuous attempts were made to undermine the Chair of that committee and the committee at the time and to prevent it from doing its work. This attitude is very unhealthy.

The unhealthy aspect of the whole issue is that there is no sense of separation between the Executive and the Parliament. Before the last general election, given the enormous economic collapse, both global and domestic, we all said we should change our politics. Every party said this before the election. Now, irrespective of whether the Minister of State likes it, there is huge disillusionment among the public at the lack of change and the lack of any response. For example, the lack of any parliamentary oversight over regulation continues. Fundamentally, nothing has changed in terms of the financial architecture of how the financial world is regulated or, in particular, the parliamentary oversight of that regulation. Who guards the guards remains an ongoing issue that has not been resolved in any way.

The problem with regard to the Seanad is that the Government said during the referendum it was elitist. The basis of the Government's campaign was that it was elitist and a cost issue.

Democracy is something I value. Obviously we have to manage our costs, but the Government should stop putting that up front. Every time we have a debate about democracy, it is all about costs.

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