Joe McHugh (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I wish to address the direction democracy is taking in our society. I remember arriving in politics at a local democratic level in 1999. I was told at that time never to ask a question in the local chamber without first knowing the answer to it, which I may have done previously in my naiveté. The person who told me that was suggesting that the best tool in any political or democratic field is information. It is the biggest weapon and one of the most important instruments in the political system.

Power is the exercise of control, influence and authority. Local democracy has to start at a grass roots level and that must include community involvement and participation by local people. In 1998-1999, people in this category felt they were outside the decision making process. This led to a situation where the Government began talking the language of local development groups, which was a positive development. The 2000 White Paper regarding the Government's vision of society spoke of the ability of the voluntary and community sector to provide channels for active involvement, and the participation of citizens in democracy. That is the language the community and voluntary sector heard from politicians and the Taoiseach at that time.

The discussion of better local government, decentralisation, bringing power closer to the people, getting people involved and greater transparency in Government and local democracy was the language our society needed to hear. Prior to that, Irish society was hoodwinked by politicians. I have no problem saying that because politicians kept power and information for themselves; they told people they would provide medical cards and get grants for house extensions, and that they would deliver for them. The people, therefore, became dependent on politicians. That hoodwinking had a detrimental impact on our society prior to 1999 when the new use of language began.

I commend the Taoiseach on his use of language and his vision in regard to the information society. He spoke of e-democracy, active citizenship and transparency through e-government. The latter was defined as electronic government, where people could access any information they wanted by computer. The Taoiseach believed that such a mechanism was the way forward for our society.

That mechanism was not rocket science or novel thinking by the Government. It was a European model of regional democracy which came from countries such as Sweden, Denmark and Finland, which entered the European Union in 1995. Every country in Europe was talking about bringing power closer to citizens. That came from the active involvement of Fine Gael in European affairs. Such language was used by our ambassadors in Europe and has been brought to the fore in Ireland. Whether referring to better local government, local democracy, the devolution of power, regional government or regional autonomy, it was Fine Gael which brought such language to the State and it has been spoken from 1998 onwards.