Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The committee met this morning at 9 a.m. to consider the report, but by 10.02 a.m. the report was on Twitter and we had responses and tweets from journalists. It was 11.35 a.m., however, before Members of the Dáil received a hard copy of that report. There is an issue regarding the order in which people receive reports we are going to debate. We have all seen Deputies engaged in conversation with another Deputy or Minister while the seconds are counting down to a vote. The Deputy engaged in the conversation will call down to another Deputy sitting near his or her seat to press the voting button. While that is not best practice, I had not seen anything sinister in it until recently. Recent events have shown, though, how the system has been abused. I refer to voting for someone not in the Chamber and doing that several times and then not correcting a vote when a mistake has been made. I do not want to believe that there was anything sinister in that, because I want to believe in the integrity of all of us who are elected to the Dáil.

There are too many examples of parliaments around the world that are corrupt, where physical violence has broken out, where there is blatant self-interest among the members and where there are connections with criminality. There is one parliament in Latin America where a significant number of members are up on charges in another jurisdiction for drugs trafficking. Our parliamentary democracy, however, has been effective because it is transparent and accountable. There is no doubt, though, that the events of the last few days have dealt a blow to that integrity. Once a few examples are discovered, it seems inevitable that there could be more. The question is whether the system has been seriously abused in the past, and we certainly hope not.

Another aspect I found disturbing was how, last Tuesday, the way the incident was almost allowed to develop into an Irish Watergate, such was the potential for sensationalism and opportunism before all of the facts were known. There were delays, business ran late and those in Gallery waiting on the apology had to sit through all of that. Once that space is opened, it is easy for an issue to assume dimensions not warranted at the stage. That is not taking from this issue being serious because we know the penalties for those impersonating others at elections. There is a procedure to deal with this, however, and that finally happened. An immediate referral to the proper authorities could have saved us much time and trouble on Tuesday.

We have a fairly robust voting system. The Ceann Comhairle has as role, the tellers have a role and we are all conscious that tellers are looking around when it does come time to sign the papers. The bottom line, however, is personal responsibility to be in one's own seat and to press one's own button. The report shows that has been done and acknowledges the procedure. The terms of reference in the report are to ensure public confidence in the integrity of the voting system in the Dáil is restored. I looked at the recommendations, the conclusions and the transcripts. There are many references to assumptions and I had to feel for the country Deputies, who seem to be getting the blame because they are in a rush on a Thursday. I do not see that happening here and I do not see that as being a reason or an excuse. The conclusion is for there to be more transparency and clarity on the protocols, but especially regarding the responsibilities and obligations of individual Members. That is what it comes down to and the rules that exist just state the obvious. It is up to us to abide by them.

One recommendation called for a wider review of the voting system. I do not see the need to change a system which was and is respected by the majority of the Members. There would be an extra expense involved in a card system, which could also be open to abuse, or a fingerprint system. That would be a terrible waste of finance, unless, perhaps, the Deputies involved in this issue would be picking up the bill. We know the length of time walk-through votes take. Even though they seem to be foolproof, that would take up a lot of time. The report sets out what the tellers have to do and the protocols involved. The tellers, however, should not have to be checking that people are in the right seats. We are all adults and that aspect is covered in the Constitution in respect of questions being determined by a majority of Members "present and voting". That is that and we have to abide by it.

Reading through the transcripts, it is the stuff of drama. I was reminded of the playwright, Colin Murphy, who once took a transcript from a meeting of Dublin City Council and created a very entertaining drama. It made for great entertainment but it certainly did not do the councillors involved any good. I can see something similar happening here to this kind of musical chairs that had been going on.

I want to reiterate what was stated by Deputy Pringle when he representing Independents 4 Change at the meeting with the Clerk The system is fine. We do not think there is a problem but Members involved in this situation should be dealt with. It is a reminder to us all that, as people have said, it is an honour and a privilege to be elected to this House. We just have to live up to that.

See this speech in context