Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

They will have to answer for that. I am annoyed about this but, as I said to the Taoiseach, I will live if this House is abolished. What people want is more, rather than less, effective scrutiny and oversight. If anything was proven over the crisis that occurred in this country, it is that less scrutiny and regulation did the country more damage. We are living with that. Is it right that a Government with the largest majority in the history of the State, at 58 seats and declining, vested power it four Ministers so that even the Cabinet is irrelevant and that budgets are decided by four people? A trade union official and three teachers decide what happens in this country.

Four of those people have served in this House, nearly 30 years each and they are good parliamentarians but every Government needs to be challenged. Removing the Seanad removes the checks and balances. The Taoiseach proposed a mini Seanad of his own appointees. Once that suggestion was out there and he saw the reaction, it was pulled back in.

I asked the Taoiseach what would replace Seanad Éireann if the public votes for its abolition. He was vague in the extreme because he does not know. His big reform in the Dáil was Friday sittings and topical issues. It is farcical and it is a joke. There is never a vote on a topical debate on a Friday, it is always taken on a Tuesday so that Members travelling all over the country are not discommoded. One can go in and talk about the school bus in Malahide or a beach in Garretstown or propose a Bill in Dáil Eireann and the vote is held off until Tuesday. There is a window dressing of reform. The Minister is proposing a reduction of eight Deputies in Dáil Eireann, which is a massive reform. I really commend the Government for its reform agenda, which is second to none. It will go from 166 Deputies to 158. That is absolutely magnificent reform. They did not go for 20, as promised, because it would require a referendum.

The referendum to reduce the number of Deputies by 20 should be on the same day, apparently 5 October. The Government will not do this because what is occurring is not about Oireachtas reform. The Government is a grubby, small-minded government. I do not say that lightly. Members should have no doubt that the referendum will be a smokescreen for the Government's budget, which will be announced two weeks later. I warn the Minister of State that he should never underestimate the intelligence of the electorate. Our individual efforts from here on in will be to inform the people about the importance of this Chamber and what could happen here. This Chamber has a role and could have a much greater one if it were permitted to have it and if the Minister of State, Deputy Paul Kehoe, actually permitted EU scrutiny. It is not permitted and the Taoiseach does not want to know. The Taoiseach promised he would be here today. I am used to hearing broken promises from him. He is not here although he said he would be.

I may have been a little over the top in making some of my comments and I do not wish to offend anyone, but I am particularly annoyed over this. I heard Members on the other side of the House railing against the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, when he lied about the cost of this House. I will not withdraw the word "lied" because the Minister did so. I have the correspondence and the figure is €8.8 million.