Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first sentence of the motion reads, "That Seanad Eireann: commends the Government for the comprehensive and successful process of political reform upon which it is engaged." That is something with which I cannot concur. I primarily concur with the reference in the second paragraph to the effort made to reduce State expenditure. Before the Government took office, significant emphasis was placed by both parties on serious political reform. Almost five years later there has been a significant missed opportunity in that regard. The saying goes that charity begins at home, to which I add that political reform should start in the Houses of the Oireachtas. There was a major opportunity to reform the Seanad, but instead of going down that road, the Taoiseach decided to abolish it and, as he said himself, the people gave him a wallop. Because of the way it was done, meaningful Seanad reform will be more difficult to achieve. It will not happen in the lifetime of the Government, or even the lifetime of the next. The Taoiseach should have put the question to the people of whether they wanted to have a reformed Seanad. If they had voted in favour of that question, it would have strengthened his hand and that of the Cabinet and both Houses to implement proper reform.

This Private Members’ motion comes again the backdrop of serious failures by the Government to introduce real political reform across the board and of policy making. The Government’s record has been of a smokescreen of changes, leading to a greater centralisation of power in fewer and fewer hands. In order words, four people call the shots in the Oireachtas, namely, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan. That is the reality. It is not democratic and not good. It is not good for any Government. One can forget about the current situation. It was an issue before and needs to be dealt with.

In Dáil Éireann the Government has completely broken its promise of new politics in a damning indictment of its commitment to reform. It is systematically breaking its programme for Government pledge not to guillotine the debates on Bills, with the debates on 63% of legislation being guillotined to date. For example, the ramming through of the Irish Water legislation in a single day in the week before Christmas is a typical example of how not to reform the Oireachtas. The Government has failed to implement its programme for Government commitment to allow two weeks between Stages of Bills in 78% of cases. That is not reform. Topical Issue debates are completely undermined in the other House by the failure of relevant Ministers to turn up in more than 40% of cases. The Friday sitting farce is mere window dressing to bolster the number of sitting days without any real debate. The Government continues to engage in cronyism and State board appointments by ignoring the open public process. When we did this in the past, we were severely criticised. Prior to the general election the Government parties stated they would do things differently, but they have not done so. The recent raft of Dáil measures taken without consultation will disempower the Opposition and give more time for Government back-slapping by its own backbenchers.

Let us examine the back-tracking on the Constitutional Convention. It was supposed to be the major opportunity to engage in constitutional reform, but little has happened. There was a failure to abolish the Seanad. I am grateful the people rejected the proposal. The proposal to reduce the age of eligibility for presidential candidates from 35 years to 21 was a cynical tease to young people that failed dismally. It was an inappropriate proposition to put to the people.

I concur with much of what Senator John Whelan said about the State Claims Agency. I agree that too much money is being paid out and the system needs to be reformed. When the former Minister, Ms Mary Harney, under a previous Government, introduced the Personal Injury Assessment Board, PIAB, it resulted in considerable savings to the State. The cost of most forms of insurance reduced by more than 60%. That is a model that could be followed.

The State Claims Agency has responsibility for the management of personal injury and property damage claims against the State. The total paid out in 2014 was €86.5 million. In addition, it paid out a whopping €54.5 million, mainly in legal fees. That means that for every €1,000 paid to claimants, many of whom had suffered life-changing events, as Senators John Whelan and Denis Landy outlined, the agency paid out an additional €620 in legal and other costs. In other words, for every €100 million paid out, an additional €62 million was expended on legal and other costs. I totally agree with the proposer of the motion that this is not tenable. The balance of amounts paid to claimants compared with the payments made to the legal profession is all wrong. More of the payments made by the State Claims Agency should go to claimants, not to the legal profession. I am aware of a case where a farmer took on the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and it dragged on for seven years. The farmer’s health suffered and eventually the Department conceded at the door to the courthouse. It could have done this in the first 12 months and saved the farmer stress, anxiety, depression and worry over a six-year period and also saved money for the State.

In August 2012 the State Claims Agency announced a new procurement structure for legal fees. Despite assertions by the agency, that structure has failed as the total amount spent on legal fees has rocketed since, from €39 million in 2012 to €42 million in 2013 and nearly €50 million in 2014. Instead of saving money, the level of expenditure has moved in the other direction. It is public money that could be better spent in other areas of need. The agency must go back to the drawing board to come up with a formula to rein in such costs. If need be, the State should consider introducing legislation under which solicitors and barristers could be employed directly on a salary to handle cases. The days of the legal profession hiding behind restrictive practices must be brought to an end and I speak as a member of the profession. There is no doubt that there are thousands of young solicitors and barristers. I met one of them when coming from the airport one day and he was driving a taxi. When we began talking, he said he was a barrister. He had no work and was driving a taxi. Why could the likes of him not be employed by the State Claims Agency? Such persons could be employed for less than 25% of what some of the boys are paid in the Four Courts and would do as good a job if they were trained and brought into the system.

In the context of real reform, Fianna Fáil has committed to finding common ground to develop a consensual approach to reform of the Upper House. It is imperative that the Government use this as the starting point for the introduction of genuine reform, not just the severely restricted Bill it has published to broaden the voting rights of university graduates. It is a pure sham. Reform must encompass a broader approach to all tiers of the State in order to reshape the structure of politics to make it fit for purpose in the 21st century. My party has also published detailed documents on the reform of Dáil Éireann and the system of local government. Such holistic reform is critical to genuinely change how we do politics in Ireland. As the Government continues to move to abolish town councils and slash local democracy, the need for real reform is more apparent than ever.

There are two parts to the motion and while I fully concur with the second part, I have great reservations about the first. One could argue that the party with which I have been involved for the past 15 to 20 years did not bring forward meaningful reforms either, but the public was acutely aware of this prior to the previous general election. As a result of the financial crash, their attitude towards politics and disdain for politicians, councillors, Senators and Deputies is widespread. We will face a general election shortly. I am reliably informed today that it will not occur until after Lá Fhéile Bríde an bhliain seo chugainn, le cúnamh Dé, which is of solace to me.