Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Exactly.

Let us look at what will happen, assuming the referendum does not succeed. I have a feeling it may not be as straightforward as the populist approach was in the beginning. Through the contributions of many fine Members in this House and the media, as we saw in the Sunday Independent and other newspapers, I get the feeling that we are filling the vacuum where the White Paper should have been. Assuming the referendum does not succeed, we have lost the opportunity for reform that would require constitutional change. Nobody will be rewarded for having made that mistake. The abolition of the Seanad is becoming a much bigger issue than the Seanad itself. The Government's suggestion of abolition and the way it is being handled will cast a spotlight on the way Government operates here.

We talk about democracy. What democracy is there for a backbencher in Dáil Éireann? I have never served there but, having observed it, I believe its Members fill a gap and press a button. Can one sleep at night if one sells one's soul like that? There are only a few Ministers running the country at present. They may be lucky and get it right but if they get it wrong, which is always possible, people will suddenly ask why they got rid of the Seanad and whether they had not realised that only four people were running the country and everybody else was just pressing a button when told to do so. That type of democracy may have served in the past when the partisanship that goes with party politics was accepted. As I stated, times, society and the world change, and we change as individuals. The discerning electorate has now been given a single focus to be able to examine the bigger picture. The single focus is the fact that a Government, in the present dire straits of the country, wants to get rid of a House where accountability would be to the fore and where we could help and work together for the good of the country.

That is all I want to say on this but I am possibly whistling in the wind. Sometimes, however, people stop and listen when one does that. There will be other contributions along the same lines. It is interesting how a single sentence can trigger a reaction. The trigger will not be the big headlines or megaphone diplomacy but a single issue. Suddenly, the people will ask whether they are being made fools of in the biggest way possible, namely, through the taking away of a House that would give Members responsibility and allow for accountability. I urge the Minister of State, a decent man who served here with us and impressed us all, although I know he will not change the view of the Taoiseach on this matter, to say to the Taoiseach that Members of this House are not trying to be anti-Government. We are not trying to be smart or insult anybody; all we are genuinely trying to do is reflect what we know to be the case on the ground. Sometimes arrogance is an obstruction to that reflection and echo. Perhaps we should all be less arrogant in our approach and do that for the good of the people.