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

We will radically reform the legislative process. Colleagues have said that all of the TD's work is constituency work but there is a fundamental change, and I see it among new TDs who have come into the House, not only in the quality of Dáil Deputies but the way in which those Dáil Deputies are engaging in parliamentary activities. The world is changing. The biggest single change was made by the former Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Noel Dempsey, who proposed, and got through both Houses, the abolition of the dual mandate. That was a good move because it now means that colleagues will ensure they concentrate on their parliamentary duty.

The Constitutional Convention is a key reform proposal the Government is already putting in place. I will not go through the list of issues but I understand there is a total of 12 issues currently before the Constitutional Convention. We have a rule whereby the Government must, within a specified period, respond to those issues when they arise. Some of them will lead to additional referendums while others will lead to changes within one or both Houses. To suggest that we are not moving ahead on that reform agenda is simply untrue.