Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Third, we have put through both Houses a proposal whereby at least one third of all candidates at the next general election must be women. That will radically increase the number of women who stand for the Oireachtas. Fourth, we have radically transformed the way in which the Ceann Comhairle deals with parliamentary questions, which has been a significant reform. Another innovation is the introduction of a Topical Issue debate. For people to posit the view, in an uninformed way, that parliamentary reform has not occurred is simply a lie. Only yesterday the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, published the Protected Disclosures Bill 2013 to provide statutory protection for whistleblowers.