In a crisis, John F Kennedy once said, be aware of the danger, but recognise the opportunity. In the wake of last weekend’s fragmented general election result, talk of a crisis is overstated, but the outcome certainly brings a unique opportunity to introduce meaningful reform of the Dail.
Usually by the time the new Dail convenes, the outcome of the vote to elect a taoiseach is a foregone conclusion. Not this time. It’s almost certain that there will not be a taoiseach elected next Thursday.
That vacuum has created the opportunity. Micheál Martin has proposed that instead of focusing on electing a taoiseach, the next month should be dedicated to getting cross-party agreement on Dail reform to ensure that when the new government finally takes up office, it is answerable to a beefed-up Oireachtas.
A number of political commentators have pointed out that the leader of Fianna Fail is a new convert to reform. Given that he served as a minister between 1997 and 2011, he had a chance to introduce change — but surely better late than never. It would be naive to think that Mr Martin wasn’t also looking to set the political agenda with his comments, but that doesn’t mean he’s not 100 per cent correct.
The relative weakness of all the political groupings means that this is an unprecedented opportunity to do something different. If it means deferring the election of a new government for a few short weeks, then that is a price well worth paying.
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We all know that the Dail is one of the weakest parliaments in Europe in terms of holding the government of the day to account. If a government has a majority, it can effectively do exactly what it wants.
The Fianna Fail leader has proposed a series of changes including a limit on the ability of governments to control Dail business; more comprehensive review of legislation, including an end to the practice of guillotining bills; the establishment of both an independent budget review office and an office of independent legal adviser to the Oireachtas; as well as a new regulatory oversight process.
These measures will help to address what was described in January by four prominent political scientists as a “puny parliament”.
David Farrell of UCD, Eoin O’Malley of DCU, Theresa Reidy of UCC and Jane Suiter of DCU, have founded Smaointe – meaning ideas — with a view to pushing the agenda for political reform.
As well as welcoming the move to have the ceann comhairle elected by secret ballot, they have argued that the number of Oireachtas committees should be increased. These committees should be smaller in size to encourage policy specialisation and better resources. They also want positions allocated by a Dail management committee rather than party leaders to avoid TDs being removed by leaders as a disciplinary measure. They have also called for dedicated committee weeks so TDs would not be distracted by Dail business.
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The four have argued for sitting hours to be made more family-friendly, and a revamp of parliamentary question procedures to “make it more difficult for ministers to avoid giving full and complete answers to questions”.
Of course, none of these measures will change the world, but they are all achievable and, combined, they would give some teeth to a toothless Dail when it comes to oversight of the executive.
We should hope that their suggestions will also give some momentum to the wider political reform agenda.
TDs would be forgiven for wondering if, for example, they will get any credit for their participation in committees, even if they are beefed up as is being suggested, or whether local, clientelistic politics will still dictate who wins seats in many constituencies. Arguably only a change in the electoral system would change that scenario.
There is little appetite for such a radical reform; hence the need to start smaller and then look to build on whatever progress is made. The reasonable proposals put forward by both Micheál Martin and the four academics represent that ideal starting point.
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It would be hugely disappointing if this opportunity isn’t embraced by all political groupings. If you believe the workings of the Dail to be largely irrelevant to you, bear in mind that during the years of the Celtic Tiger, no TD — government or opposition — stood up in the Dail to sound the alarm. That surely is proof that the Dail in its current form is not working and that this failure actually matters to all of our lives. This is the time for change.