Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will not comment.

I look forward to participating in this crucial debate over the next few months. I do not know of any country or society which has found that less democracy was better than more. I do not know of any houses of parliament which have found that reducing the number of participants, of those asking questions, resulted in better politics. As we said yesterday in discussing another Bill, the public seeks better politics.

The shallow debate about the cost of politics and politicians is quickly forgotten when people reflect on what politics is. It involves representing the people, decision-making, investigating, bringing forward ideas and suggestions. This House has played a huge and historically proud role in that tradition and can do so again. If real political reform was as simple as scrapping Seanad Éireann it could and would have been done a long time ago.

We do need better politics and we need to start in the House occupied by 166 elected Members, namely, Dáil Éireann. We spoke about the promises made in the recent general election and how we have to fulfil those commitments. To the best of my knowledge many parties promised that the Dáil would be reduced by 20 or 30 people, not eight. We have quickly forgotten that. We promised in the programme for Government - we get very excited about it regarding it as a latter day Bible - that Dáil Éireann would sit four days a week. One Friday per month is what I call fraudulent Friday, when no votes can be taken, no questions can be asked, a simple quorum is required and people go merrily home at 12 o'clock. God help us if that is Dáil or political reform.

With this Bill and that of Senator Zappone and others on the agenda, I look forward over the next few months to a real debate about political reform because it is truly important that we examine how this country is run. It is particularly important that we examine the role of elected persons in this or the other House. We are arriving at a dangerous situation where elected Members of the Dáil, who are not members of the Government, are entirely irrelevant. They have no say. This situation has become even more serious because the role of Minister who is not a member of the all-powerful economic management council within the Cabinet is also very reduced. That needs to be examined from a constitutional perspective. Deep and lengthy questions are needed on politics and reform.

This afternoon Senator Crown made his pitch and presentation. I have not examined the Bill in the detail that I perhaps should have done because I received a copy of it only yesterday. I have ideological difficulties with the idea of voting rights for emigrants. Maybe I am an old-fashioned traditionalist but I still find it difficult to grapple with the old phrase of "no representation without taxation". All of this can be debated and teased out and I look forward to that debate.

The Constitutional Convention was mentioned. That is the other part of the new Bible of political correctness. It is absolutely politically insulting that a constitutional convention can be tasked with discussing the silly question of whether 16 year olds should be allowed to vote but it is not allowed to reflect on whether there should be a second Chamber of Parliament.