Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While these changes could have been proposed in the previous Dáil, they are better late than never. The Government's change on the road to Damascus, which I welcome, was forced by public opinion when a substantial number of Independents were elected to the Dáil by people who saw the Dáil as totally irrelevant to their lives. These reforms have resulted from the recent general election and from an OECD report that criticised the functioning of this Parliament on more than one occasion. We must acknowledge the outside influences on the Parliament and the Dáil that have forced this welcome change.

I would like to comment on some of the parts of the report about which I am concerned. I have mentioned that there is a substantial number of Independents in the Dáil. This report refers to the importance of giving greater time to Independents to reflect recent changes. However, page 17 of the report proposes that "A party which is a group has precedence over a technical group". My reading of this and some other references to parties is that they seem to give precedence to parties regardless of how small they are. It appears that a party of five or seven Deputies - five Deputies will be needed to form a technical group - will have precedence over a bigger technical group of ten or 15 Deputies. I suggest that this needs to be examined in the interests of new politics.

This proposal cannot be passed on Tuesday. It would be awful if this reform were to be pushed through by majority vote in the guise of new politics. I do not think that would be acceptable. It would go against everything we have been trying to do on a cross-party basis with the inclusion of Independents. Consideration must be given to giving precedence to a bigger technical group. If we are going to lose out on Leaders' Questions and Priority Questions, what impetus is there for us to join together?

In that situation there is no reason for us to join together with a view to gaining any advantage, not for us but as public representatives who represent the people who put us here.

My next point is not clearly related to the motion but it has a relevance to it. We have just come from a meeting organised by Deputy Clare Daly on the issue of refugees in Calais and Dunkirk. Up to now, that voice has not been represented in this Dáil. As a Deputy, as a mother and as a woman, I was greatly disturbed listening to the horrific stories that were related to us as well as was possible in a non-emotional manner. I recommend to every Deputy in this House to hear what we were told. To tie that back into Dáil reform, there must be space within this Dáil to reflect what people have elected us to speak about, with a view to solutions. Other Deputies and I have been overwhelmed with e-mails asking for leadership on our part and asking how they can take refugees into their homes. That is the good side of Irish society. If Independents are neglected in this overall group, that voice will not be there. I ask, in the spirit of new politics, that what we are saying today is taken on board. We stayed here to make our voices heard and to make our contributions within a positive framework.

This is not a bad document, it is a good one. However, the criticisms must be taken on board. Deputy Thomas Pringle, on our behalf, has made those views known at sub-committee level and we have now come here today and made those views known to the Dáil. I ask that they be taken on board so that precedence is also given to the technical groups and that whatever emerges reflects the fact that no party in this Dáil has an overall majority. That was the wish of the electorate. It gave no party an overall majority, yet the new reform is giving parties a favoured position within the Dáil, which is not what the people asked for. I ask the Chief Whip to go back and look at that. I thank her for the work that has gone into this process.

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