Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is unfamiliar territory for me, given that I am more of a protagonist than a moderator, but every situation after every general election throws up challenges and one should never be afraid to face them. There have been changes in recent times, not only in this country but also in many democracies throughout Europe and the rest of the globe. It is important that we be prepared to react to and accommodate changes as they take place and before it becomes necessary to do so. One of the things this and future Parliaments must be prepared to do is to anticipate long before things develop what is likely to happen and how we should respond to them.

I hope I have gleaned some experience in the years I have spent in the House and learned a little. I am willing to learn more all the time. Some of the things which I believe are sacrosanct at this stage are, first, the rights of the Member. The late Oliver J. Flanagan once told me that I should never allow my rights in Parliament, including my right to table parliamentary questions, regardless of whether I was in government or opposition, to be eroded. He gave very good advice which still stands to this day and is more important than ever. If it is possible to gain information on an issue by way of a freedom of information request, it should also be possible to gain the same information through a parliamentary question. If that was the case, as I believe it should be, there would have been no need for many of the inquiries that have taken place in recent years. If I happen to be successful, I can only undertake to say I would like to see the principle that every Member has the right to raise a parliamentary question on any issue at any time and expect to receive a substantive reply honoured. That is hugely important to the entire democratic system.

We also need to look at the way we do our business. My colleague, Deputy Andrew Doyle, has already referred to this issue. We need to change because we are in the public arena to a greater extent. The outgoing Ceann Comhairle introduced one very important innovation to this House in introducing and facilitating live broadcasting of its proceedings. It has changed and should change completely the way we do things. It has brought us under the microscope to a far greater extent. It has allowed members of the public the length and breadth of the country to observe at first hand the performances of their elected public representatives. That is as it should be. We need to be able to conduct our business in a dignified way without rancour and bitterness in order to accommodate each other's opinions at all times, even though we might hold differing opinions. That is part of the democratic process established in many Parliaments all over the world, none more so than this one. If I am successful, I hope I can contribute in some way to the fulfilment of the rights of individual Members of the House in a way that is meaningful to them and the people who elected them. The people who elected every one of us sent us here as messengers and we bear a huge responsibility for them in that we need to be able to respond to them in a meaningful, substantive and responsible way.

I offer my good wishes to my colleagues who are also contesting the election. Let the better person win. Whoever is Ceann Comhairle will definitely have a challenging role to play, but he or she will be assisted considerably by the proposed changes in Dáil reform. The new Ceann Comhairle will preside over a standing committee which will order the manner in which we will do business and eliminate much of the conflict that arose in the past. This is hugely important.

I thank my colleagues who signed my nomination papers and offered support. I hope I can justify their trust in the time ahead. Members of the House, many of whom are serving for the first time, will long remember this day with fondness. It will be a memory they will cherish for the rest of their lives. This is a very important day. Being elected to the national Parliament carries with it a very important responsibility. I hope we can all live up to the high expectations the public have for us.

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