Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

No. The Government often defends the indefensible but perhaps this time, even for those who are not easily embarrassed, it may be a step too far. Surely, this was an opportunity to defend the Government's record on political reform in general. Was this not an opportunity for the Government to show how it has progressed the democratic revolution proclaimed by the new Taoiseach in 2011, together with a commitment to radically overhaul the way in which Irish politics and Government works, by which I mean everyone can do with a good laugh now and then? Every single so-called reform introduced by the Government has been exposed as nothing more than spin. In reality, absolutely nothing has changed. I have no doubt but that it will be business as usual in the next few weeks, with a raft of political appointments to State boards, quangos and whatever else by a Government on the verge of leaving office. There is nothing new here, certainly not for Fianna Fáil or Fine Gael or the now misnamed Labour Party. Together with such cronyism, auction politics is now in full swing in the run-up to the general election., which the people were promised would never happen again after the 2008 crash.

I will conclude by making a number of points. First, I wish to appeal to people in general not to allow their vote to be bought by those chancers on the other side of this Dáil Chamber. They should not allow themselves to be bribed with their own money because that is what is happening here. People should make no mistake about it: we live in a capitalist society, there will be more crashes and the Government certainly will not be capable of defending people who will be made to pay the price again.

I wish to make a point about the Think-tank for Action on Social Change, TASC, of which David Begg has been a director. I am sure Proinsias De Rossa, who is the chair of TASC, endorsed the press statement that was issued on 6 February 2015 stating:

As part of its work on democratic accountability, TASC has long advocated for a more independent process to replace the ad hoc and politicised appointment of people to serve on the boards of public bodies or state initiatives. TASC has published a number of reports highlighting best practice in corporate governance.

Reacting to the announcement of the reforms formally launched yesterday by Minister Howlin, TASC Director Paula Clancy said “The Government’s reforms are a long awaited and welcome move to a system of public appointments based on merit, diversity and transparency.”

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