Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

Yesterday, the Leader made an excellent suggestion on organising in the coming months a series of debates on the individual components of the programme for Government. Will he use that opportunity at an early date to debate political reform? The programme contains a commitment to set up a commission to examine our system of politics, including electoral reform.

I support Senator Crown's comments on what we call politics. We have a political system and, in particular, an electoral system, which will always ensure constituency comes before country and nobody should be surprised that our economy is in its current dreadful position because we do not have a working political system. It is only lazy politics and lazy journalism which would somehow believe that the Seanad alone is the problem. We have a problem with the Dáil, local government and this House.