Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate. There are a number of issues that need further consideration, such as the definition of "conscience". I am trying to imagine a situation where this would be accepted and we would have a public debate. We would have to define just exactly what is meant by votes of conscience. Our Constitution at present only insists on two things regarding the stability of a Government, and those are that if it falls on a money Bill or a vote of confidence, it will force a general election. We do have elements in our Constitution at the moment, but it is not the way party politics operate. It works in theory but not in practice, like many things.

People perceive political parties and the excessive use of the Whip system as being more or less a means of running private clubs. Less than 3% of the population belongs to a political party, a shocking number.

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