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

Despite the initial confusion over the organisation of time this evening, I do not think there was anything sinister on the part of the Executive. I very much enjoyed the opportunity to hear everyone's contributions by being in the Chamber. It is a genuine privilege to be on the committee. If I may, I would like to congratulate you, a Cheann Comhairle, on your election because I have not had the chance to do so.

When the last Dáil changed the Standing Orders so that we could elect the Ceann Comhairle by secret ballot, it represented a fundamental change in how this place does its business. I found it difficult at the time to explain to people why it was so significant and fundamental, and why it meant the Dáil would now be in a better position to hold the Government of the day to account and why the Dáil would be more independent. I found myself leaning back on the example of the Westminster Parliament, given it changed its way of doing business in 2007 to elect a Speaker by secret ballot. That came into effect in 2009 and, immediately following that, we saw the flow of powers from the Government to the Speaker, and so to the people.

That is what we are seeing right now in the creation of this reform committee. Again, it is a privilege to be on the committee and to get to work with everyone in this House who is making such a positive contribution, those who gave contributions from outside the committee and the staff who are working so well on it. People have to realise that what we are seeing is that the power to reform how we do our business is no longer in the hands of the Government. No one party or group can now force its will on how this place should do its business. That is a fundamental change in how we do our business and it is incredibly significant. The power to reform our parliament and the responsibility to do that rests with the Ceann Comhairle and with the committee. We have never seen this before, so it is exciting and a real opportunity. It must not stop with this initial phase that the Ceann Comhairle has planned and it must continue through the lifetime of this Dáil and into the next.

Some people outside of the Chamber and, indeed, some within it do not believe it is that important. However, how this place works or does not work impacts the lives of people in this country every day. What we do is important. However, if we are not doing it properly, we begin to undermine ourselves. We then also undermine the practice of politics but, worse than that, we can actually undermine the fabric of society and do a lot of damage to people's lives. That is not to overstate things. There is a very real thread between what we do here and what happens in Irish life. That thread should be as strong as a rope but, sometimes, I feel it as weak as string, particularly when we come to very significant issues we have debated in this Chamber in the past five years, the way we have debated them and the results that have come from that, in particular the negative way the people have reacted and responded to that, and the damage this has done, not just to the body politic, but also to the country.

Eight years after the financial collapse, as a group of elected representatives, we are still in a position of responsibility to rebuild the faith of people in their political system and their politicians. That is why we have to reform this place and why it is so important to make our Parliament more diverse, representative, accountable, open, responsible and responsive to the needs of the people.

In looking, with others, to set up this committee to do this work, we in Fine Gael put together an Oireachtas reform programme. What we sought to do in that document was to put forward certain ideas. We are not claiming originality for those or that we invented them, but we wanted to put forward ideas in good faith in order to say that, regardless of when a Government is formed or who is in government, we will sign up to these measures because we see them as being important. In tandem with that, we agree that, as a party, we would seek to relax the Whip system in the Chamber and also in committees, which is very important.

We must all come to this with good faith and, to an extent, we have to come to it with a Rawlsian veil of ignorance in order that the changes we make as a reform committee will empower Deputies and the Oireachtas, but will also recognise the constitutional responsibilities and obligations that are there for Government. We all have to be responsible in making changes because, ultimately, we do not know what bench we might sit on in this House following the changes we make. That will require a change of attitude and of mindset.

The work of the committee is under way and, as I have said, it is a privilege to sit on it with my colleagues from across the House. The Ceann Comhairle has set a very ambitious timeframe and the proposals in the interim report are very welcome. Again, the establishment of the business management committee is another fundamental reform of how we do our business. We, as parliamentarians, will decide how we do our business on a weekly, monthly and sessional basis, which is very important. If we have the will ourselves, we will be able to avoid the use of the guillotine, but it will fall to us to do that. If we can approach the business committee in the way we have approached the reform committee, through seeking consensus and trying to be more mature in our work and less confrontational, hopefully, that attitude, culture and belief will translate into the work we do and the modus operandias we approach each of the issues that will face us over the next months and years.

To conclude, it is important to recognise more groups in the Dáil. Standing on a party platform is important but, at the same time, as we do our work here, we must recognise the voice others have. I look forward to the further work that will continue in the next weeks and months and, hopefully, throughout the lifetime of this Dáil session.

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