Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that there needs to be a structure and a binding mechanism to implement decisions made by political parties or Governments, but the problem here is the absolute control held by so few. Their position on whatever the issue may be is not open to question no matter how flawed it is. We have a situation in Ireland currently where we have an Economic Management Council, or gang of four, comprising the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Health and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. They make the decisions for the whole country. Those decisions are rubber-stamped by the Government and rammed through the Dáil.

An example of how that happens occurred during the passage of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act. I read all the submissions, sat through and listened to the hearings over the two separate sessions and made my decision based on the evidence before me. I proposed improvements to the law. The legislation proposed that a pregnant, vulnerable and suicidal woman who sought and was refused a termination under its provisions would be entitled to seek a review of the decision by presenting her case before a three-person medical panel. For any Member of the House to have to go before a panel of three medical professionals to argue any case would be a daunting task. It would be daunting for any professional, never mind for a woman who believes the decision taken by the panel will determine whether she lives or dies. When the legislation came through the House, I sought to ensure that under the law a woman would have a legal right to have someone accompany her when she sat in front of that panel. My proposal was rejected by the Government and voted down by a majority of Members in the Dáil. That happened because the decision was taken by the Economic Management Council - by the gang of four - that it would not accept any amendment whatsoever to that legislation. Even an amendment that was copper-fastening the principles of the legislation and protecting the rights of vulnerable women was forced down in the House because the gang of four had already made the decision that it would not entertain any amendment.

I come back to something the Minister said earlier in relation to my own case and how I was expelled from the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party. My decision to vote against the Government on the issue of Roscommon Hospital has been branded a parish pump issue. The facts are that in June 2009 a written commitment was sought and obtained from the Fine Gael Party on the future of emergency services at Roscommon Hospital by the Fine Gael group of councillors on Roscommon County Council. A revised and updated written commitment was sought and obtained from the party in June 2010. In December 2010, further revisions of that written commitment were sought by Roscommon Hospital Action Committee. It was issued for the third time by Deputy James Reilly in January 2011. During the general election campaign in February 2011, this written commitment was publicly endorsed locally in person by both the Taoiseach, Deputy Enda Kenny, and the incoming Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore. It was the policy of both parties which subsequently formed the Government that they would retain emergency services at Roscommon County Hospital, but within 100 days of going into government, the Taoiseach, the then Tánaiste and the then Minister for Health reneged on that clear, unambiguous commitment to the communities in County Roscommon and east Galway.

I could not nor would I go back on the commitment that was freely given by the Fine Gael Party and publicly endorsed as policy by the incoming Taoiseach and incoming Tánaiste. It comes down to whether one stands by one's word and by the platform one put forward to the people at election time and which was publicly endorsed by the national representatives of one's party on the ground in the constituency. It is an issue of honesty and integrity. In the circumstances, I had a choice whether to stand by my conscience, my word and the people who elected me on that mandate. That is why I pressed the red button when voting that night in July 2011. I stand by that decision today and I always will. Issues like that should not have to arise. They should be provided for within the Constitution to protect the individual rights of Members. Doing so would ensure that we had a far more effective and accountable democracy which the public as a whole would actually respect for a change instead of distrusting as they do currently every Member of the House.

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