Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Katherine Zappone for tabling this Private Members’ motion and Members for their views on the issue of Seanad reform. The reason there are not many Fianna Fáil Members present in the House today is they are attending the funeral of a close and young family member of a party colleague. I am sure Members opposite will understand this.

Fianna Fáil supports the motion. While not disagreeing entirely with the amendment, we will not be supporting it. No Member is on a different page in the yearning for reform of this House and the political system. If the media had covered it during the years- it would have done well to have done so - that message would have been received loud and clear by the public. It is only through the grace of God, the efforts of some Members, not least the Leader, and some private commentators that the public, without being informed of the true work of this House during the years, took the decision to retain the Seanad last October. Thank God for this.

The Seanad is a piece of infrastructure that belongs to the people ultimately and the democratic system the nation tries to embrace. We support Senator Katherine Zappone’s motion and would like all people to take a proactive role in voting in elections. Fianna Fáil has participated in the many debates and Bills on Seanad reform in the 12 years I have been a Member. I am glad that the Taoiseach is making a move in the interim to implement the seventh amendment of the Constitution, a law of the land which was systematically ignored by all Governments in the intervening period.

This House has always been treated very badly by the Government of the day. The Government is no different as it has chosen to ignore it. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and others, in their consideration of matters that relate specifically to Members and their work, have treated Members very badly. One could not be blamed for thinking how these Ministers are dealing with parliamentary allowances and expenses for Members is a bitter retort to the outcome of the referendum on Seanad abolition. This issue needs to be addressed and I, for one, am not afraid to do so. It is better than sneaking around trying to impress on the Minister the need to sign a particular statutory instrument.

For many years Parliament has been subservient to the Cabinet. That is why the people do not feel they have a sense of ownership of the policy platform pursued by the Government of the day. The Taoiseach and the strongest personalities in the Cabinet tend to dictate how policy evolves. The Whips tell parliamentary party colleagues that this is the party position and that if they do not like it, they can leave. Every Member of Fine Gael, the Labour Party and Fianna Fáil will recall those words spoken in their respective parliamentary rooms. This is the sad reality of the political system. We live in a dictatorship disguised as a democracy. That is the way it has been for many years.

In the 12 years I have been a Member, Senator Maurice Cummins has been the best Leader of the Seanad, particularly with regard to the improvements he has managed to make to the way we conduct our business, even within the constraints placed on him. If we really want to reform the House, the Minister of State should abolish the Whip, make the Seanad responsible for the ratification of all public appointments and the scrutiny of all EU proposals. While he agree with what I have said, there is no way in the wide earthly world that the powers that be in Government Buildings will allow it to happen because it would make the Chief Whip’s job more difficult. It would also make the House more transparent and accountable to the people, giving them a genuine sense of ownership of the policy platform of the day. No Government - be it Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the Labour Party - will allow this reform of the House for the same reason the Leader gave about the raft of legislation rammed down our throats at the end of every session. That is the will of the Government. The Taoiseach and the stronger personalities in the Cabinet insist on legislation getting through. We have motions for earlier signature to suit the senior Ministers and, despite their great efforts in producing legislation, officials. It does not suit the people and does nothing to enhance their belief in the political system.

In this nation we have no sense of state. We have a great sense of community as shown by the raising of funds for local football clubs and so forth. We are second to none for giving donations for the relief of natural disasters. However, we have no sense of state because we have no ownership of the policy platform of the day. It is not about Enda Kenny, Charlie Haughey, Garret FitzGerald or any of these people; it is about a system that is rotten to the core. Democracy in this country is not democracy; it is a dictatorship. Parliament is subservient to the Cabinet of the day. If one wants real reform, that is what one has to change. Hands up those Members who have been at a parliamentary party meeting, watched all of their colleagues agree with their position on a particular issue and the Minister say the opposite and that if one did not like it, one could leave as there was a queue of people outside the gate looking to take their place. If we want real reform, we should not tell the Committee on Procedure and Privileges to investigate the issue of reform. Imagine if it contacted the Taoiseach’s office to inform it that the Whip would not apply in the Seanad for the next six weeks as a pilot scheme to see what the people thought about it. Do Members honestly think the Taoiseach would issue a press release with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government welcoming it? The reform process afoot will end like the other 17, namely, in reports gathering dust on a shelf.

I commend Senators Katherine Zappone and John Crown for their contributions on Seanad reform. Sadly, it is all in vain because we are subservient to the Cabinet of the day unless it has the political will to really reform.