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Shaking up the Dáil and Seanad
Opinion: Root and branch reform is sorely needed in this country.
As a long-time advocate of social reform, I feel a little aggrieved that the big guns are moving in on my turf. For a long time, people in power - be they political, clerical or financial; argued that there was nothing wrong with the system; everything was running fine, or at least nothing was so woefully awful that’d you’d bother complaining. But then all of a sudden, things got woefully awful, and people bothered to complain.
So, what’s their latest stratagem to get off the hook? It is reforming the system, so that such things can “never happen again”. And who will oversee these sweeping changes? Exactly the same politicians, churchmen and bankers that oversaw those very same things they promise will never happen again. Genius. I’ve always maintained this country seemed as if it was run by eleven year olds who haven’t cleaned their rooms, but now I know for sure.
Of all the sectional appeals for change from within though, the one I’m most interested in is political reform, mainly because it’s my area of interest, but also because I want no truck with the Church whatsoever and just about know how to use a Banklink. Fine Gael have been making the most noise reform wise with their New Era plan, claiming it’s the most ambitious political reform package since the 1930’s. If that’s the case, then it just goes to show how badly off we’ve been for ideas for the past eighty years.
In fairness, it’s not a wholly lousy document: the calls for a bigger role for committees and giving more power to ordinary TD’s, a reformation of the budget process and the call for a ‘Citizen’s Assembly’ are definitely ideas with serious merit, which also look good on paper. However, some proposals, like reducing the President’s term from seven to five years, seem pretty pointless. And their proposal to abolish the Seanad is just plain stupid.
It’s easy to dump on the poor Upper House; I mean the only purpose it has served since the 30’s is to give outstanding figures like David Norris and Mary Robinson a national platform. But the only reason it doesn’t work is because it was designed not to work. De Valera took all its teeth away, so the people there couldn’t interfere with his own legislative reforms. So, since it’s currently there, why not try to fix it rather than scrapping it altogether, especially when it could have so much potential?
Currently, the Seanad elects 43 members in a bizarre and byzantine method more befitting a Japanese game show than legislative body; six are elected by University graduates and 11 are appointed by the Taoiseach of the day, thus giving the government of the day a de facto majority every time. With the exception of the Uni. candidates, the mandate for a Senator is usually well under 100 votes. Local youth councillors around the country have much more solid mandates to govern than most of the self-important goons who currently bloviate in the Seanad.
So, why not make it more accountable to the public by electing 34 Senators for each county and city council, 10 from the Universities and I.T.’s, and have the other 15 elected from various sectors like community groups, businesses, sporting outfits, or trade unions? That way, the composition is never a fait accompli, and it’ll not only be more accountable to the people, but will also be more effective at keeping the Dáil in check.
And speaking of the Dáil, that’s a house that could do with some cleaning too. A cut in TD’s wouldn’t be out of line, but I’d only cut 15 to bring it down to 151, and give each TD a smaller, single seat constituency elected by alternative voting (i.e. you need 50% + one vote to win a seat) rather than the current system where they elect three, four or five. That way, electors have a much more direct relationship with their TD and it stops internal rivalries that are an unfortunate feature of the current system. Also, there should be a deadline on when by-elections should be held, as, currently a government can leave a vacancy for as long as they wish, which makes a mockery of the system and of the public who vote for these people.
And, just a quick word about women. At one stage Fine Gael were proposing quotas for women candidates, but they rightly dropped it. It’s ridiculous to think women need equations to be successful in politics, and if I had to pick a cabinet in the morning, about ten of my choices would be women. How do we get more women in politics? By doing it.
There are other plans I’d be in strong favour of, such as strengthening the roles of elected youth councils in policy formation, reducing the voting age, fostering an enormous revamp of the civic education system and introducing a national citizens’ petition system like that brought in by the Lisbon Treaty on an EU level. Root and branch reform is sorely needed in this country, but for now, let’s clean up the roots in the Dáil and Seanad, and then deal with the branches once we’re on a solid footing. And when that happens, the people in power will be us.
