Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I support the Bill and recognise the need for the additional expenditure for the next three years, partly to reflect the increase in numbers here and the attendant costs that go with that. In what is possibly my last intervention in the House before I depart, I am glad to say that I was for a short time a member of the commission. I was grateful for the opportunity to see the inner workings.

It is important to express our gratitude to the staff of these Houses of the Oireachtas. I feel that every staff member is motivated by a sense of public service and a deep sense of the institution that they are serving and the importance of that institution to the functioning of this democracy, which we do not take for granted in these times we live in.

I personally want to express my gratitude to everybody I have met throughout these 17-odd years for the wonderful service they have given to me, the courtesy and kindness. I will take it with me in my next step.

If I was to make a few short observations about the role of the commission, I respectfully suggest membership should be more reflective of the disparate political groupings here at present. Individual political parties in particular should not have to horse trade with each other for parcels of time spent on the commission. I also believe into the future there may be a role for ensuring how the commission works is communicated to each individual Member after each commission meeting. Unless someone is a member of the commission and, dare I say, experienced and well versed in the ways of this House, most Members possibly do not know exactly what the commission does. Up to this year, it had funding of €460 million and that will increase to €565 million. There is a role for increasing the manner in which the commission communicates to all Members of this House. Perhaps that could be taken on board.

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of staff employed by the House. I have not seen a commensurate increase in the number of staff employed by individual Members. For instance, the allocation to individual TDs has stayed finite, similarly to Members of the Seanad. The workload of individual TDs - I can only speak for TDs - has increased dramatically in the past number of years but the allocation of staff members per TD has not. If the role of the commission is to serve the democratic function and serve the people who interface with this House, given the massive workloads TDs now have, there is a case to be made for rebalancing the staffing arrangements more in favour of those people who actually serve the public and to strike a balance in a way that is reflective of the workload of individual TDs. That could be looked at.

I again thank the wonderful staff of this institution for their assistance and advice. They fed and watered me and gave me guidance. I am very grateful for that and for the professionalism of the staff who come into these Houses every day and assist us in our work. It is meaningful work. It is really appreciated. While I have these last few minutes, if I may, I thank the people of Cork East for the wonderful past four mandates they gave me. It has been the privilege of my life to have served in these Houses. One is sad to leave but one is hopeful that one has left a legacy of hard work and a dedication and respect for this institution, its rules and procedures. It is an important place. In these times when the political discourse has become diminished and sometimes degraded, it is important that we have an institution that serves the democratic function well for the vast majority of society who want to see these Houses of the Oireachtas function well and see their parliamentarians behave in a way that is decorous and in a way that is reflective of their expectations when they elect us. I again thank the people of Cork East for this incredible privilege, my family, friends, the people who campaigned for me down through the years and the people who worked with me in our office in Mallow. It has been an incredible privilege and I thank them.

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