Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State will have an opportunity to speak immediately after me.

I thank Senator David Norris for tabling the motion. One of the things I like about what the Senator does is that he commits himself clearly and mentions a timeline. That is one of the important elements of the motion.

It is not enough simply to state what we should do, because we need a timeline.

I congratulate the Leader. In the past, I have always had a feeling that if one side of the House said something, the other side disagreed entirely with it. In this instance, however, the motion of Senators Barrett and Norris, in making its points, gives credit to the Leader. The Leader pointed out a number of the areas where action is taking place. From this point of view, the motion is worthy of consideration.

Consider how bad we were and the problems that obtained in this country five or six years ago. When the election took place, three years ago this month, we committed ourselves to saying we must do something about it. We said we could not allow what happened to recur. Every political party devoted a substantial section of its general election manifesto to political reform. Commentators and analysts also led the way in advocating radical change to the way we conduct our business. I am not sure that is happening nearly as much as is required. On 12 February 2011, The Irish Timesreported that one of Ireland's most successful businessmen, Mr. Dermot Desmond, had circulated a detailed plan for political reform among leading figures in business and political life. I had a look at some points in it. While I agree with some of the points Mr. Desmond made and disagree with others, I believe the proposal is another example of the extent to which the desire for political reform was dominating public debate. All of the parties stated they must do something about it. Let me quote Mr. Desmond: "If Ireland is to prevent itself sleepwalking into another crisis in 20 years' time we must radically reform the political system to a design that puts Ireland first." This quotation goes to the heart of what we should be trying to achieve when we talk about political reform. Put simply, it is incumbent on all of us in public life to ensure we seek to change a political system that failed and that was highly complicit in causing the worst economic crisis in the history of the State. The broken system was made up of the Dáil, the Seanad, the Cabinet, political parties, Departments and regulators. These have been mentioned by Senator Norris today. The collective system contributed to the failure that created the economic crisis. It is in the interest of everybody to ensure this never happens again.

Three years ago, the people gave Fine Gael and the Labour Party a mandate to govern. In their programme for Government, the parties pledged:

We will radically overhaul the way Irish politics and Government work. The failures of the political system over the past decade were a key contributor to the financial crisis and the system must now learn those lessons urgently.

Almost three years later, the Leader has given us some description of what has taken place but the progress is very slow. I have criticised in the House how long it takes to get things done. The debate on the Seanad's future last year distracted from the fundamental need for Dáil reform. I expressed concern previously about the overuse of the guillotine in the Dáil. I am delighted that the Leader of the Seanad has seldom used the guillotine. Let us examine what happens in the Dáil, however. Figures produced last year show that as many as 57% of Bills passed by it have been guillotined in the lifetime of the Government. The readiness of the Government to use its majority to curtail debate and short-circuit the time for deliberating on legislation is a recipe for very bad law. It damages trust in politics and undermines economic renewal. It negatively affects the way in which we lead our lives. Reform in this area needs to be achieved urgently.

Do we live in a republic that will insist on the concept of "one citizen, one vote"? It was interesting to hear Senator Zappone speak about this. Are we really going to acquiesce in a divisive proposal that stipulates "one degree, one vote"? During the upcoming local election campaign, we must ask every candidate weather he or she is in favour of everyone having one vote or whether he or she is anxious to ensure the average citizen does not have a vote while a successful candidates will have five, six or seven. An elected member has five votes if he does not have a degree, six if he has a degree from one university and seven if he has a degree from two universities. This seems outrageous. Citizens should ask local election candidates whether they are in favour of having one vote for every citizen.

The Bill that Senator Zappone and I introduced and that which Senator Crown introduced go exactly in the direction of having one vote for every citizen. We debated that but we have not got anywhere with it. What is required is reform that will give every citizen, not just university graduates, a Seanad vote. It is a total misnomer to suggest that another costly referendum would be necessary before every citizen could vote in a Seanad election. By means of simple legislative amendment, this can be achieved. We have demonstrated this in the various Bills we published. Simply by amending the Seanad Electoral (Panel Members) Bill 1947, the Government could provide for direct elections to all the 43 panel seats and extend the franchise to every citizen. I appeal to the Taoiseach and Government Senators not to let this opportunity pass. Senators Zappone and Crown and I have brought forward Bills that would transform the House and give every citizen a stake in the future. This can be done but it requires commitment. However, this reform alone is not sufficient, as many other reforms are also required.

Senator Norris referred today to using the committee system better than we have done, particularly in regard European legislation. It was interesting to hear the Leader respond in this regard. So much of our legislation is now coming from Europe but it is not subject to sufficient commitment. We must do something about this. We must ensure that reform occurs according to a timeline, and that is why I believe the reference to "time line" is important. Let us ensure we do not just assume something will happen; let us ensure we actually get around to doing something about it.