Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Apart from the scandalous cost involved in it, of over €5 million, I have to say that the whole project has been clouded in mystery and almost the subject of deception. The affected members of staff of the Oireachtas, the Library staff, were told that the Members were in favour of this project. As Members in this House will know, I wrote out to all the Members of both Houses of the Oireachtas and asked them where they stood on this issue. I can say that they stood, by a very clear majority, against it. Practically none responded in favour of this proposal. More than 60% of the Members of the Houses who responded indicated formally to me that they supported the maintenance and reinstatement of the room.

I want to say something about the actual project itself. Apart from the expenditure of that amount of money, it has involved the serious mutilation of a protected structure. Members will see, from the photographs that I have circulated, that the existing fittings and furnishings were removed, but what they may not know is that the floorboards were all taken up and they have now been replaced by chipboard on beams. The original floorboards of a protected structure have been taken out. The entire character of the room has been dramatically changed. It looks like a semi-used backroom in a down-at-heel hotel in the middle of nowhere. It no longer looks respectable and it is no longer an inviting space to go to. If this proposal goes ahead, the staff will be no longer available in this House. The only contact between Members of the Oireachtas and the Library staff will be by computer. That is where we are going now.

Let us be clear about this. Leinster House is a shared house between two Houses of the Oireachtas. The Dáil committee has not even agreed to this; it was just confronted with these figures recently. It is a small committee of people, most of whose members, I think, are against it. No committee of the Dáil, however, has the right to say that the Seanad's facilities are going to be abolished in this way, without consulting this House. No effort whatsoever, as far as I know, has ever been made to consult the relevant committees of this House or the Members of this House, or to even canvass the general opinion of Members of this House, as to whether this proposal is acceptable.

I am not here to cause trouble but I have seen the vandalism that has already occurred by the mutilation of that room and the ripping up of the floorboards. It is a breach - and I want to put this on the record - of section 51 of the Planning and Development Act 2000 to do this to a preserved structure. If you own a house in Merrion Square, you cannot rip up the floorboards and put down chipboard without consulting the planning authority, but it has happened in this House without our knowledge.

For the purpose of completeness, there is a proposal to open a room in what is called the Duke's Library. I can show Members photographs of what is proposed. It looks like what I would describe as a photo from an IKEA catalogue, with about six or seven armchairs in a room to substitute for the service which is available in the library at the moment. Members are entitled to go in and talk to the librarians, who have given this House incredible, politically-neutral and confidential service for decades now. Members are entitled to look up periodicals, regional papers and the like that have been published, and they have been doing it for years. There is no majority in Dáil Éireann for this proposal, there is no majority in this House for the proposal, and there is no decision by the Oireachtas commission in favour of this proposal. The Library staff have been told by some people on the staff of the Oireachtas that this now cannot be stopped. They have been told to effectively take their medicine on this issue and accept that they are being moved out of this House in favour of this proposal.

I have no hesitation in proposing this motion. I think it has all-party support in this House. It is a scandalous insult to this House that the proposal has been progressed to the point it has to waste €5 million on it for the very dubious reasons that are set out in the documents I have before me, such as that the gender quota will increase to 40% in the next election for candidates. As if that is going to change the sitting hours of the Dáil per se. I do not understand that proposition. It is also asserted that there will be ten more Members and therefore more requirement for speaking time. It is a big joke.

I find what has happened repugnant. I find it really annoying that when I canvassed all the Members of the Oireachtas on this issue, the response of some people was to say that it is going to go ahead anyway, even though no competent body has approved it, even though what they have done already is unlawful, and even though what they have done already is to rob this House of its facility without even a pretence of consultation.