Aideen Hayden (Labour) | Oireachtas source

It is incumbent upon me to speak to some extent in defence of the Whip system as I am the Labour Party Whip in this House. We can criticise the Whip system as much as we like but it is the Whips' duty to deliver the Government's programme. That is the bottom line. It is up to individual members of political parties to decide, on balance, whether they think there is more good or bad in the Government's programme and vote accordingly. I accept of course that we should have a more relaxed Whip on matters such as Private Members' time, as we are having at the moment.

While I always welcome debates on reform, and it is important for this House to prioritise a reform agenda, the motion before us is premature. We had a meeting of the Constitutional Convention fewer than two weeks ago, at which Dáil reform was discussed. It would have been preferable to have allowed the convention to finish its business and produce its report. As was discussed with Mr. Tom Arnold, the final report of the convention would have been placed before this House for debate in the way that other reports of the convention have been placed before the Dáil. I believe that is the way we should proceed.