Séamus Healy (Tipperary, Workers and Unemployed Action Group) | Oireachtas source

Earlier I said this Dáil must see fundamental departures from the policies in the previous two Dáileanna. The Tánaiste mentioned how easy and cheap it was to borrow. I wonder what that means to the 1,600 children in emergency hotel accommodation tonight. What does it mean to the 82 constituents of mine who were on hospital trolleys yesterday and the 511 patients on hospital trolleys around the country today? This Dáil needs to send a very clear message to the public that there will be fundamental change and that the Members of the 32nd Dáil will ensure the most vulnerable people in society will be protected. I have tabled a motion to that effect and expect it to be taken during this sitting of the Dáil.

On reform, I welcome the motion. Like most others, I am a signatory to it and it appears to have been agreed to by most Members and most parties. It is a very important and fundamental matter which needs to be dealt with urgently before the formation of a new government. If it is not done before the formation of a new government, nobody believes it will ever be. That type of reform is not good enough. We need the public, the electorate, to be brought centre stage in the democratic process. That means ensuring there will be a mechanism whereby Oireachtas Members who break their commitments and promises to the public can be recalled by the public. We must restore the elements that were included in the first Constitution whereby the public could initiate referenda and initiate and amend legislation.

We also need to ensure there will be no giving away of State assets such as the €31 billion in Anglo Irish Bank promissory notes, which was done without the approval of the Dáil. One of our Deputies is contesting it in the Supreme Court. It is vital that any such proposal be subject to Dáil approval. There are a number of other issues, on which I will be making submissions to the committee.

I concur with Deputies Thomas P. Broughan and Thomas Pringle who drew attention to No. 5b. We have heard a lot this evening about Dáil reform. We have heard the Tánaiste and Deputy Micheál Martin go on about it for quite some time. It is ironic that in the very first piece of Dáil business to be conducted on 22 March some 19 Independent Deputies will be excluded from speaking. I hope that is not the message we will send from this first meeting of the 32nd Dáil. I hope, expect and demand that the proposal be amended to ensure every Member of the House will be entitled to speak.

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