Ciara Begley
Fine Gael and Labour have taken to the stage. So what exactly are they going to do to the Irish political system and what are the projected ramifications? First they are going to propose referenda on; whether to abolish the Seanad, whether Oireachtas Committees should have investigative powers and whether communication between public representatives and citizens should be private.
Second they propose a constitutional convention that will report within twelve months on a variety of topics. The range includes; the electoral system, reducing the presidential term to 5 years and aligning it with the local and European elections, same-sex marriage, amending the clause on women in the home, removing blasphemy and reducing the voting age. Third a significant number of decisions have already been taken:
Ministers: Will have reduced salaries and must vouch all expenses. The government jet will be used more transparently and effectively, no more drivers, no more severance payments, no more pension entitlements upon leaving office until over retirement age of 65, and no pension above 60, 000 per annum will be given.
The Dail: The day to day functioning of the Dail will look very different; it will operate for longer and more regularly with a 50% increase in the number of sitting days. There will be time for committees and back benchers to propose legislation, with a day per week dedicated entirely. Bills will be publicly available in draft form and public representatives will be consulted more in their conception phase. Committees will have greater time allocations, they will liaise with EU MEPs and a specific committee will be established to deal with national petitions on issues (similar to the EU parliament mechanism). Attempts will be made to prevent guillotining legislation and ensuring due consideration with a full day per week given to private members bills and committee reports.
Furthermore standing orders and debate structures will be changed to ensure increased focus on issues of urgency.
The general workings of government: There will be fewer TDs in line with the population as of Census 2011. The Ceann Comhairle (house chair) will have the power to ensure questions are answered adequately. Question time will be changed to allow for more time to be spent on questions and to ensure that the right people are available to answer them. The Freedom of Information act will be expanded and enhanced. There will be whistle blower legislation. They will establish an electoral commission, election spending for all election types will be capped, corporate donations will be banned and political donations will be reduced with disclosure required. There will be a register for all lobbyists with rules about their activities including a conflict of interest provision for retired public sector employees. Dealings between Committees and the civil service will change with civil servants having clearer responsibilities for which they will be held to account. There will be a new powerful investigative style committee to liaise with the public (via petitions) and the Ombudsman; it will be chaired by a member of the opposition. Finally there will be an attempt to change the current dependency that the state has on a limited selection of expensive private
solicitors.
Conjecture or results?
Much debate has ensued about the effectiveness of such changes. Some of the promises made are ambiguous, what does the Constitutional Convention mean in terms of composition and implementation? Potentially a mere publicity stunt of no policy substance, this is idea has significant potential, but only if handled appropriately. Perhaps the justification for not proposing its direct implementation relates to concerns about the conclusions being too radical. But then why not put the findings directly to the people via another referendum?
The document also makes vague assertions like; ‘the issue of cabinet confidentiality will be addressed’. Procedurally the practical realities of what these assertions will entail have yet to be distinguished. Sentiment, (necessary given the current state of Irish politics) is only of merit if it transpires to have substantive meaning. Political scientists are already expressing concerns that the actualisations of the above reforms have been lack lustre. According to one such political scientist Eoin O’Malley of DCU the move to empower the Ceann Comhairle seems misguided given his limited information and probable biases in favour of the Taoiseach that appointed him.
Much is made in the programme of the reduction in the costs incurred by TDs, with salary reductions and a general tightening of the ship featuring heavily. Absolutely the system in the past was problematic; un-vouched expenses engendering incredulity among private sector workers and luxuries such as state cars being exploited. However, reducing the salaries of ministers and TDs is of questionable merit given the desire to attract dynamic individuals to political careers. Obviously a point of contention among angry citizens that view political figures as supposed leaders, supposed to be setting an example. Yet perhaps the small cost reductions gained would be negated by the loss of talent. Certainly many of these more ‘symbolic’ reforms are long overdue.
Perhaps one of the more radical changes relates to the Freedom of Information Act and the general transparent direction that this government aims towards. It is exciting to see such common sense based policies finally come to the fore, banning corporate donations, regulating lobbying, enabling petitions and improving the structure of the Dail all long overdue. The main concern is that much of what is suggested must be realised with concerted efforts to follow through. Scrutinizing the government and policy implementation has rarely been of greater importance. Certainly the series of referenda and the exciting Constitutional Convention should assist sustained public interest and analysis, the first step of many needed to improve the Irish political system.
