Seanad debates

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Electoral (Amendment)(Political Funding) Bill 2011: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

5:00 pm

Photo of Paul BradfordPaul Bradford (Fine Gael)

-----survived as long as we have with the sort of political system we have. If one wants to be a success as a national politician and to remain a national politician, one has to practise as a local politician. If a business was run in the way we try to run the political system in this country, it would not survive for very long. We do not have good politics. We do not have thinking politics. We do not have debating politics. We do not have a politics that puts a premium on Members coming into this House and the other House to propose ideas, amendments and suggestions.

The Whip system, the electoral system and the party system are absolutely out of date and not fit for purpose. We should be praying novenas of thanks that this country did not go down the tubes earlier than it did as a result of what we call politics in this country. When we finally draw a dividing line between local politics and national politics and review our electoral system, that is when we will begin to make real political progress. When we change the system of government in this country so it is no longer the case that 15 of the Members of other House have all the power and the other 150 Deputies might as well stay at home, that is when we will send a message to the public that politics matters.

We need to ensure that backbenchers in the Dáil and the Seanad have a say in the running of this country. That is much more important than how many Members of the Oireachtas are male or female, or how many of them are under or over the age of 25. We should bear in mind that approximately 40% of the electorate are under the age of 35. Equally, in the coming years those over the age of 65 will comprise a more substantial proportion of the electorate. Therefore, we should consider whether we need a quota for senior citizens in this country, who will almost comprise a majority of the electorate in the near future. Do we need a quota for people under the age of 35, who will have to foot the bill for our economic distress for generations to come? Do we need a quota for other marginalised people? This debate is fairly endless. To use an awful political phrase, however, we are where we are and the 30% candidate quota is likely to be voted through. I hope we will move beyond it as soon as possible.

I know the Minister has a huge interest in politics in its broadest formats. I would love to see him come to this House over the next three or four years with a reform of politics Bill. Perhaps that will emerge from the constitutional convention. I hope the Minister will try to impress some of his ideas on the convention. We need to make progress with an examination of how politics works in this country. We need to reflect on the fact that what we call politics is not much more than localism. It is in this context that real progress can be made. I hope we will move beyond this short-term thinking.

Although this measure might be necessary - other measures have not worked as well as they should have - we need to ask ourselves how women are treated by this House, the other House and politics in general. The same questions applies to other social groups. Young people and the elderly are very removed from politics. We have to answer many questions of this kind. This is the beginning of the much broader debate that is needed if we want to ensure that politics in this country is real and meaningful. We should stop rubber-stamping the Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Jack-in-the-Box politics whereby one gets away with it, bizarrely, when one says one thing in government and the very opposite in opposition six months later. That is what we need to change.

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