Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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I move:

That the Ceann Comhairle direct the Clerk of the Dáil to issue his writ for the election of a Member to fill the vacancy which has occurred in the membership of the present Dáil consequent on the resignation from Dáil Éireann of George Lee, a member for the constituency of Dublin South.

This motion is in the name of the Labour Party Whip, Deputy Emmet Stag. It is now more than four months since George Lee resigned as a Member. When Deputy Seamus Brennan died in July 2008, the vacancy was left unfilled for a period of 11 months. The people of Dublin South have been under-represented now for a combined period of more than 16 months during the past two years. There has been a vacancy in Donegal South-West for more than 12 months arising from the election to the European Parliament of Pat the Cope Gallagher. There has been a vacancy in the Waterford constituency for more than three months arising from the resignation of Martin Cullen.

It should not be acceptable for vacancies in the membership of the House to be left unfilled for such a long period. It is fundamentally anti-democratic that the people of Dublin South, Donegal and Waterford are being denied the level of representation to which they are entitled. It also sends out a message that membership of the Dáil is not important, that politics is not important and that our democratic system is not important.

In Britain, which has a similar system of parliamentary democracy, by-elections are held within a matter of weeks of the vacancy occurring in the House of Commons. In fact, the practice in the early decades of Dáil Éireann was to have by-elections within a space of a few weeks. For example, in 1927 Kevin O'Higgins was assassinated on 10 July and the consequent by-election was held on 24 August. Even in recent decades, normal practice has been that a by-election is held within a couple of months of the vacancy occurring. Two vacancies occurred during the lifetime of the last Dáil and the by-elections were held within about three months. Let us consider the 28th Dáil, which sat from 1997 to 2002. Some six vacancies arose and on no occasion was the by-election deferred for as long as one year.

In the past, various Governments have been tardy about calling by-elections but this is the first Government to have adopted a policy that all by-elections should be delayed for as long as possible. I have no doubt that if it believed it could get away with it, it would delay them indefinitely.

The legal and constitutional rights of the people of Dublin South, Donegal and Waterford cannot be ignored indefinitely. If the Government persists in refusing to hold the by-elections, other remedies may have to be considered. From a case taken in 1994 by a Dublin South-Central constituent, we are aware that the High Court, in granting leave for a judicial review of failure of the Government to proceed with the by-election in that constituency, stated there was an "arguable case that the Government of Ireland has a constitutional obligation to set down and support motions for the issue of a writ for the holding of a by-election after a reasonable time". The case never went to a full hearing because the by-election was held in the meantime. If the Government persists with its current attitude, it may be only a matter of time before some aggrieved voters in one of these constituencies resorts to the courts and takes the matter out of our hands.

In recent months, Fianna Fáil and the Green Party have trooped in here to defeat attempts to move the writs for Donegal South-West and Waterford. The longer they deny the people their democratic rights, the more the anger of electors will grow.

The country needs a fresh start and the people need new hope. Events last week showed the skewed priorities of the Government again. On Wednesday, the chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank admitted to an Oireachtas committee that the lion's share of the €22 billion of taxpayers' money that Fianna Fáil had put into the bank will never been seen again. On the same day, the Government announced that it was putting another €250 million of taxpayers' money into the EBS. At the same time, the Government was forcing through the Dáil the Social Welfare Bill that is supposed to be about reforming the social welfare system and supposed to activate jobseekers and lone parents. However, without backing up these proposals with genuine job opportunities and access to quality training, education and literacy improvement, the effect will be simply to further impoverish people who are already living on subsistence levels of income.

Earlier this month, figures were published showing that, for the 12th successive month, the number of people on the live register is more than 400,000, with the most recent figure at 438,000. Another set of figures was published by the Central Statistics Office which disclosed that a total of 41% of those now out of work are classified as long-term unemployed. In other words, they have been out of work for more than 12 months. When I raised these shocking figures in the Dáil last week, all the Taoiseach could do was shrug his shoulders and state that it is not possible to go back to the low levels of unemployment we had before Fianna Fáil plunged the country into economic chaos. The Labour Party will not abandon the unemployed and job creation will be the number one priority if our party is in Government after the next election. The Labour Party has already proposed several initiatives to get people back to work. One of our key proposals is for the creation of a strategic investment bank. This should be a key plank in Ireland's jobs strategy. Its structure and role would make a major contribution to the immediate task of promoting recovery, while also playing a central role in the transformation and restructuring of the economy.

If the Government is so confident that we are turning an economic corner and that it is doing such a great job, then neither Fianna Fáil nor the Green Party should have any fear of facing the electorate. Their continued refusal to allow the by-elections to be held shows they do not even believe as much themselves. They are whistling past their political graveyard. When the people get the chance to vote, there is no doubt about the political verdict they will pass on this discredited, demoralised and politically bankrupt Government.

Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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I wish to share time with my colleague, Deputy Olivia Mitchell. When I have reached two and a half minutes, perhaps the Ceann Comhairle will inform me.

I wish to start by saying that I believe that where there is a vacancy in any Dáil constituency, a by-election should be held within a reasonable period of time. It is not unreasonable that, where a vacancy occurs, there is a two or three month delay before an election is held. However, one gets to a point at which the delay is grossly unreasonable. In the context of Dublin South, it is the third constituency in which there is vacancy. Donegal South-West, of course, is the constituency in respect of which there is the longest vacancy. It is my view that once we have this vacancy, there is a constitutional obligation on the Government to ensure that the vacant seat is filled within a reasonable period of time and that the electorate in Dublin South, those who live in Dublin South, have the full quota of Deputies, to which they are constitutionally entitled, to represent them in this particular House.

Of course, the reason the Government has opposed the writs moved for the Waterford and Donegal South-West by-elections and the reason I assume it will oppose the writ for this by-election is that it knows it has lost all moral authority to govern in this State. Essentially, what it wants to do is to put off permanently, if it can get away with it, the holding of any by-elections during its remaining term of office for very simple reasons. I do not believe when the by-elections are held in Dublin South, Donegal South-West or Waterford that there is any remote possibility that a candidate supporting either of the Government parties will be elected. I believe that the electorate will provide substantial support for the view overwhelmingly held among the general public that the time has come for this Government to leave office. I have no doubt that the only reason the Government is refusing to move is for fear that if it loses all three by-elections, the pressure on it for the holding of a general election will be absolutely unstoppable.

If the Government believes it has a mandate to rule, it should have the courage to allow these by-elections to take place. If it believes there are measures that need to be taken, it should get the moral authority from the electorate. It should not fear the electorate. A government which fears the electorate will see the electorate reap a whirlwind of revenge on it when it is finally forced to go to the country and we have either the required by-elections or the necessary general election.

Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Last month Fine Gael published a Bill requiring that by-elections be held within six months. There was good reason for that. If I was sitting on the opposite side of the House and enjoyed the level of support the Government enjoys, I would not rush to the electorate either. There is always a reason for governments not to hold by-elections. For that reason, we need to take it out of the hands of the incumbent Government and put it into the hands of the law because the law is always objective and does not serve special interests.

The new politics which the public now demands must refocus not on the needs of the incumbent Government or on special interests but on the needs of the people we are supposed to serve. Postponing by-elections serves only the needs of Government and it always disadvantages the people who are under-represented in the constituency that is under-represented.

The Government has given us all sorts of excuses why it will not hold by-elections, mayoral elections, referendums, etc., but they are all red herrings and a distraction from the real reason it is not holding elections which is its fear of the electorate. I understand the reason but it is putting itself in conflict with the Constitution, certainly in the case of Donegal South-West in which it is way outside the level of tolerance. It is also in conflict with the spirit of the Constitution in all constituencies, and Fianna Fáil has always placed such store in the Constitution.

What we want is a general election and not a by-election because the Government has no mandate for what it is doing and it has been totally rejected by the people for what it has done. It was elected on the promise of being a safe pair of hands for the economy and the party that had the expertise to perpetuate the Celtic tiger. That is what it persuaded the people to vote for but look at what they got instead. They faced complete wipe out of their jobs, pensions, savings, share values and of hope. Everything was wiped out. Now the Government has us on a treadmill of a banking policy which can only lead to catastrophe.

The Government is accumulating debt daily which will be a ball and chain around the necks of the younger generation. Our sons and daughters lives will be blighted trying to repay the debt it has accumulated on their behalf. Their families, homes and futures have been blighted as a result of that.

If this Government had any shame, it would resign and slink away. It should at least give the people what they are entitled to under the Constitution. If it believes it has a mandate, it should put it to the test.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Only last week Government Deputies brazenly voted confidence in the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, yet the Government is terrified of the electorate. It does not have a mandate to govern because it stood in an election and did not put forward any of the policies it is now implementing. What is even more bizarre is that we are discussing a writ for a by-election in Dublin South but one of the Members from that constituency is absent. Where is the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Ryan? In the past, the Green Party position was to hold by-elections within a very short period of time. I believe he, like Members of Fianna Fáil, is afraid of the electorate.

What I find interesting in this debate and what has not been mentioned so far is that the convention is that when a by-election is required the party which lost the seat moves the writ and it is accepted. I find it very strange that this motion was tabled by the Labour Party. I thank it for moving it because writs should be moved within three months. The writ was not moved by Fine Gael. Is it also afraid of the electorate of Dublin South? I do not believe any of the parties of the right or the Green Party represent the 11,000 people who are unemployed in the Dublin South constituency or the many more who are on low or reduced pay because of Government decisions. I do not believe they represent the hundreds, if not thousands, of people who are close to losing their homes, who have negative equity or who cannot pay their mortgages or the thousands more who are on the housing waiting list.

On 29 April 2009 when a motion was moved in regard to the Dublin South by-election, which returned a Fine Gael Member, I said the Government needed to prepare legislation or a constitutional amendment, if required, to ensure by-elections are triggered within three months of the death of a Member, the expulsion of a Member because of bankruptcy or the resignation of a Member. In this instance, there should have been a by-election within one month. There is no reason that by-election should not have been held. To delay it further is undemocratic.

The people in Dublin South are not fully represented in this House. The massive anger reflected not only in Dublin South but throughout the State needs to be heard in this House and expressed by somebody elected to represent that anger.

There is no mandate for the Government's actions in shackling future generations with a debt not of their making or of our making. This debt was created by a Government decision to bail out a corrupt, zombie bank and those who gambled on the market and in that bank. There is no mandate for slashing public service pay and for cutting public services. As a former Minister, Deputy O'Dea, did at the weekend, there is no mandate to encourage emigration - to encourage our young people to leave our shores.

I urge the Government to accept this motion and move the writ in order that we can have a by-election and the people of Dublin South can be fully represented. I agree with others that rather than a by-election, we should have a general election at this stage. However, given the Government is not willing to go for a general election, the by-elections should be held now not only in Dublin South but also in Waterford and Donegal South-West.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute on behalf of the Government on the holding of the by-election to fill the seat vacated by George Lee last February. The Government intends to vote against the moving of the writ for the by-election. The Government believes this is not the appropriate time to hold it. Along with significant the economic challenges the country faces, the Government and the House are in the middle of an extremely busy legislative programme, which the Whips will acknowledge.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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On a point of order, the Minister of State said this will disrupt the legislative programme. If the writ is moved today, the by-election will be held during the recess and will disrupt nothing.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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The Minister of State is using the old script.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Legislation before the House along with legislation that will enter the House in the coming weeks is important and we must not avert our attention from the work at hand. Deputy Stagg may laugh at this but he has asked for many of the Bills, in particular,emergency legislation relating to the HSE, the Social Welfare (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2010, the Road Traffic Bill 2009 and the Adoption Bill 2008.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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The by-election will be held during the recess.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Gilmore referred to precedent. It is fine for him as a party leader to move this writ but the last time his party had the opportunity when a vacancy arose in Dublin South-Central it chose not to move the writ for a considerable period.

Kathleen Lynch (Cork North Central, Labour)
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Give that researcher an extra day off.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I agree with Deputy Ó Snodaigh that ordinarily the party in which the vacancy arises moves the writ and when the Fine Gael Party moved the writ for the Waterford by-election, I questioned why it did not move the writ for this by-election.

Comments were made about the Government's programme and policies and it was stated the programme we are implementing was not in the election manifesto for 2007 but no party has the same policies. The reality is the focus of the Government is to react and respond to the changed economic times. We have done that and will continue to do so.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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The Government should call an election and get a mandate. It is high time for the by-election.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I questioned the Labour Party's motivation in moving this writ and it is probably because substantial legislation is being processed and it has become used to political opportunism and soundbite politics.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The by-election will be held during the recess at the end of July.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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While the Labour Party will hold us to account in the House, in recent times it has had a great deal of success with populist soundbites.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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With solid policies.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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I beg to differ.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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The Minister of State can beg all he likes.

Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Test it out in July.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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We will also challenge policies. It is easy for Deputy Gilmore to tell the Taoiseach to enter negotiations with unions about public sector reform and so forth but when the Croke Park deal was brokered, the Labour Party was nowhere to be seen in terms of supporting it.

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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On a point of order, the Minister of State is misleading the House. The Labour Party had a definite and clear position on the Croke Park agreement.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Was that before or after it was passed?

Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)
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The Government is lying repeatedly about this issue.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Government should allow the people of Ballinteer and Dundrum to have their say.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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If the Croke Park agreement is contentious I will stay away from it.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Bring it to the people.

John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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Last year, the Labour Party was solid on gangland crime but, unfortunately, when legislation was introduced in the House, it would not support it. I will not accept the proposal.

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The Minister of State should take those arguments to the people.