Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I echo the comments of Deputy Dowds on how we elect people in this country. Just because something comes from a Constitutional Convention does not mean that it is right.

I have already spoken in the Chamber on the Constitutional Convention's report and will not repeat what I said but I would like to focus on the seventh report on Dáil reform in the limited time I have. I thank the members for their work in that regard. When we discuss changes to the Dáil and what we do in here, changes to the Constitution are not necessary to achieve fundamental reform. There can be changes to Standing Orders and simple changes in practice and habit.

The proposal to elect a Ceann Comhairle by secret ballot is a fundamental reform which is very welcome. It will mean that greater independence will be given to the Chamber and greater powers for it to act as a check and balance on Government behaviour, which is what it is meant to be. We did not have that in the years leading up to the crisis and it is part of the reason we had a crisis. It is a welcome change from which a lot more change will flow. It is important to note that when we see commentary on this change, people refer to it perhaps coming back to haunt the Government. That proves that it is a fundamental change because the Government is ceding power to the Parliament, which means it is a fundamental and important change.

Some of the things of merit that need to be fleshed out include how exactly the election will take place. Such a change was introduced in Westminster in 2007 and has been very successful there. It is important that there are no party nominations and that nominations come instead from the Members of this House, separate from their party affiliations, to ensure independence in terms of the vote. It is important that a candidate going forward needs nominations but the threshold for nominations should not be so high that it would be difficult to be nominated.

It is important that there is an opportunity for candidates to address the Chamber but not so much opportunity that they can have private meetings in the background or do deals. Rather, they should be able to speak to Members about why they should be elected to Chair the House. I would also like to see the election take place after Ministers are appointed, thereby not precluding anyone who might be very well got in the Chair from going forward because he or she might have hoped for preferment to ministerial office.

The further change in regard to the d'Hondt system is another fundamental change that is very welcome. I also agree with the point on finding some way to allow people who are outside of the country at election time to vote by way of a postal vote.

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