Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not intend to speak on this particular subject, but, like the Minister of State, having a fair amount of experience of the vicissitudes of the electorate and the electoral system, I think one should always avail of the opportunity to speak on it. First, the proposals always need to reflect through democracy. I note that Deputy Connolly referred to draconian measures. Nobody ever refers to what preceded the legislation and what it was like before the draconian measures that we often now talk about on a regular basis were introduced.

The answer is that they were appalling. Short and simple, they were just appalling. They were also far from democratic. Far be it from me to mention the matter at this particular time, but it needs to be mentioned. We need to retain the essentials of democracy at all times. No matter what we are doing with the system, how to achieve the democratic process should never be lost.

It was decided some years ago that we would change the system and that we would modernise it. Modernising democracy, as the Ceann Comhairle knows, has been attempted many times on the basis that it needed to be more accessible, it needed to be improved and the rough edges needed to be taken from it. There is no way that can be done without interfering with democracy itself. The rawness of democracy has always stood the test of time. In the final analysis, it has always come through. The basis of its survival so far, to my mind, is that it has been in operation in various shapes and forms for, let us say, 1,000 years, although some may differ on that. It is the basis of our existence. If we forfeit any part of the democratic process, we would be making a serious mistake.

When we reform something, my concern is always that we might tip off something that was not intended, that we round a corner that should not have been rounded in the first place and that we ignore the basic fundamentals of the democratic process. That democratic process has stood us well over the past 100 years, and it is no harm to comment on that now. In that time, it has stood the test of time extremely well in different circumstances, in challenging circumstances and in situations that were not anticipated. The important thing is that from here on, going forward - in that appalling phrase, which I am not sure is democratically based - we need to recognise there are different countries throughout Europe, some of which have a true democracy and some of which do not. If one enters the House of Commons, for instance, one gets a sense of the permanence of a democratic process that has evolved over the years and has essentially remained the same. I know it has its faults, and we were the recipients of some of its faults for many long years, but the fact of the matter is that it has a permanence about it that we need to aspire to in one form or another. The way we need to aspire to it is to be sure that it is based in such a way as to be fair to the people.

The electoral system is, of course, subject to our Constitution as well. As we proceed into the future, this will always be a trying issue because there will always be people who will suggest that it is old-fashioned and that we should change it and improve it, and make it more efficient and transparent. When we do some of those things, we tend to change it but we sometimes miss out on some vital points. We should be loath to do that. We should keep in mind the necessity to maintain that element of democracy throughout. From A to Z, in any shape or form, any legislation in regard to electoral reform should reflect that scene throughout, so democracy is to the fore at all times, the citizen is important and the citizen’s participation is important. The need to modernise it has to be measured against the need to ensure we maintain the element of authenticity that is needed in a democracy.

The Ceann Comhairle and I both have a fair amount of experience. I cannot remember how many electoral jousts in which we were involved in various forms in the same constituency, or in a different constituency from time to time, but they were many. I would like to think that one learns from that. I learned and I hope I continue to learn for a while longer, depending on the goodwill of the electorate and the great master above. A basic element of our electoral system is that the people decide to change, as they will from time to time, and that they have the power to do so and they do not have to go through any particular process other than an election. I know various speakers have already made reference to elections, how they should be run and how they should not be run, and how they can be tilted in one direction or another, and we have to bear that in mind. However, the essential issue is the effect what we propose might have on the outcome of an election in different circumstances. The circumstances will not always be the same; they will change from time to time. There will be threats to democracy and there will be threats to the electoral system. There will always be people who will say: “You are old-fashioned. This whole system has been here for so many years and it is old-fashioned now.” It could go on for another 1,000 years but the basic element must still remain, and that basic element is the power in the hands of the people and, whenever it is regulated that they so do, they can support, they can withdraw their support and they can change and change again, as they see fit within the electoral system.

If one looks at what has happened in various other jurisdictions across the globe, there are some of them we should worry about. Some of those we would have expected to see more from, and their systems, are in trouble, to my mind. The continuity of the system we have in place here is a basic element of the strength of our democracy. By continuity, I mean that we all know what happens if a Government is changed and by whom it is changed. That is the important part of it: by whom it is changed. The people are the only people who have the right to change it. We have talked about outside influences in recent times but it is not their business. Our business is to run our show in accordance with the best rules and regulations, in the best democratic tradition, with the right of the people to change the Administration, whoever they may be, from time to time as the case may be, but to ensure at all times the retention of the basic elements of democracy in so doing.

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