Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Senator Ross.

The result of the 2007 general election was unusual in that Fianna Fáil and the Green Party were reluctantly elected and within months, if not weeks, of that decision the public decided that it had made the wrong decision. It compares with the re-election in Britain in 1992 of the Tory Government against all the odds. That was deemed a big surprise but within weeks the people decided they had made a mistake and it was only a question of when they would take their revenge on the Government. The same has happened here. I have been around this House long enough not to be too excited one way or the other about the ups and downs of politics. I try to be realistic about election results. The public has been waiting to get at Fianna Fáil since 2007. We cannot describe this as a surprise result.

The result of the next general election was decided months ago, if not two years ago. The Government will be defeated. It is a question of when the election takes place and the scale of that defeat. I am not concerned about the state of Fianna Fáil but the state of the country. The political challenge for us over the coming months, if the election is to be held late this year, or in 12 or 18 months' time is to put in place policies and programmes to turn the economy around. That is being demanded. Fine Gael is pleased with the election of so many new councillors and that the public has shown faith in our leadership. We must plan for the next general election. That is the big challenge we face arising from the local elections. The compilation of the electoral register must be reviewed. Many canvassers and politicians found in recent weeks that dozens of people's names were missing from the register. Even on polling day people who have been voting for 50 or 60 years found that their names were not on the register. Senator O'Toole expressed a view as to how the register could be improved. The example he gave should be considered. It is unacceptable that many people find their names are not on the register at the last moment when they go to vote.

I would like to address briefly our electoral system. I accept this is a matter for another day and requires a much more substantial debate. Is our electoral and political system, as currently construed, the type of system that can regenerate our country and economy and enable us plan for the years ahead? The results of the local elections last week show that, even from a Fine Gael perspective, many of our outstanding councillors, long-term public representatives, including two in my area, former councillors Aileen Pyne and Tom Sheahan, lost their seats to party colleagues. That is what happens in Irish politics. Unfortunately, there is too much debate and argument within and not enough between the parties and people do not appear to consider there is any great need for political debate, political discourse or the putting forward of new ideas in terms of our electoral system as it is currently construed. The Minister, Deputy Dempsey, the former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, and many others have asked us to reflect on the need for a possible change to our electoral system. Some people say if it is not broke why fix it. However, I think it is broke. We are in our current political and economic state because of the inability in terms of our political system. Senators and Deputies should respond to the challenges posed and spend sufficient time in these Houses debating the real issues. That is one of the great political challenges we will have to take up over the next number of years. While turkeys should not be advised to vote for Christmas, if we want to put the future of this country and its people at the top of our political agenda, we have to accept that our present multi-seat PR system of electing politicians and Governments may not be the most appropriate for the Ireland of the new millennium. It may have worked in the past but that is no guarantee it will work in the future. We need a substantive non-party political debate on this subject. I am sure we will return to it on another occasion.

I congratulate all my new colleagues across the local authorities. As Senators we have a close affinity with local authority members. I empathise and sympathise with those across all parties who lost their council seats. Democracy is difficult. I wish all the new local authority members well in the years ahead.