Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle) | Oireachtas source

With Members' indulgence I would like to make a few remarks before proceeding to Leaders' Questions.

I feel it is appropriate to do so at the start of our autumn term. As we are all aware, an event in Clifden gave rise to the Taoiseach's decision to recall the Dáil early. The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and many other leaders and public figures have said, quite rightly, that the dinner hosted by the self-styled Oireachtas golf society should never have happened. Members, we all make mistakes. There is not one among us who, if he or she had his or her time over, would not change his or her approach to some issues or perhaps not engage with certain situations at all. That is perfectly normal. What is not normal, however, is for well-intentioned, intelligent and otherwise competent people to make a collective decision that is in itself fundamentally wrong.

Serious and indefensible breaches of public health regulations occurred on 19 August in Clifden. These breaches were either the result of collective crass stupidity or arrogant delusion, or both. The event and the circumstances which flowed from it have damaged public confidence in our public system, and confidence was not high at the best of times. Confidence in this Dáil has been damaged. As we gather today, it is incumbent upon us collectively to commit to working together to rebuild confidence in our parliamentary system. As legislators, we make the rules, but the rules apply to everyone and there can be no exceptions or special treatment. There must be fairness, consistency and solidarity as we tackle the scourge of Covid-19.

Those who seek to fan the flames of understandable public anger are not serving the public interest. Neither was the public interest served by the sort of conduct we witnessed here on 30 July, in our closing session. If public confidence in the Thirty-third Dáil is to be restored, then the public must be satisfied that the Dáil can conduct its business in a manner that is respectful, constructive and as collegial as any political system can be. Those who advocate crude majoritarianism are as misguided as those who would shout down alternative voices. Again, I put it to Members that we must strive to listen actively to each other, to work together and to demonstrate to the Irish public that our one and only objective is to serve the best interests of that public.

To conclude, I have asked the Oireachtas golf society to consider disbanding itself. I have also satisfied myself, on foot of research done by the Clerk of the Dáil, that that golfing society was never formally established by the Houses of the Oireachtas, nor has it ever in its 50 years of existence been subvented in any way by these Houses. I have asked the Clerk of the Dáil to establish whether there are any other groups in existence operating under the Oireachtas name and symbol and to report on this at the earliest possible date to the Committee on Procedure.

See this speech in context