Blog post from Minister Leo Varadkar
Fine Gael was elected to govern on the basis of a Five Point Plan which was put before the people. Our plan is to restore the public finances without increasing income taxes, use the National Pension Reserve Fund and money from the sale of state assets to build infrastructure and create jobs (NewERA), make the first steps towards universal health care (FairCare), create a modern and less costly public sector and reform our political system (New Politics). When we did not get a majority, we had to make some compromises to this plan in order to form a coalition with Labour. And, progress in some areas has been slower than we had hoped or expected.
But, by and large, we are honouring the promise of the Five Point Plan. The Troika agreement has been renegotiated and they should be gone altogether in the next few months, Haddington Road has replaced Croke Park, the budget deficit is narrowing without higher income tax, the stimulus plan is being funded by the pension fund and the sale of state assets as we envisaged and more people have medical cards than ever before.
When it comes to the New Politics, the cost of politics has been reduced considerably by cutting politicians pay (Enda Kenny now earns half what Bertie Ahern did); cutting and vouching parliamentary allowances; getting rid of state cars, fewer ministers, committees and TDs; reduced use of the government jet; introduction of gender quotas; to name but a few. What is effectively a ban on corporate donations is now in place. Legislation is in train to register and regulate lobbying, protect whistle-blowers and restore key elements of the Freedom of Information Act eradicated by Fianna Fáil. Dozens of quangos have been merged or abolished. Appointments to state boards are advertised and new Chairpersons must be vetted by an Oireachtas Committee before their appointment by government. A Constitutional Convention has been established to review the 1937 constitution and many of its recommendations will be put to referendum next year.
The Dáil is a much better legislature now than previously, infused with many new, talented TDs. It sits more days and for longer hours; dedicated time is set aside for private members bills. Many bills are now considered by committees at 'heads of bill' stage so that Oireachtas members, experts and interest groups can give their views before the bill is drafted. Ministers must be present for topical issue debates and government TDs are now much more active at question time, which used to be the preserve of party spokespersons.
Local Government is also being transformed. The town councils will go next year and other local authorities will be merged. There will be many fewer councillors but they will have more power, gaining new functions when it comes to enterprise, rural transport and ports, for example. Crucially, local councils can now raise more of their own resources through the Local Property Tax. Rather than seeking grants from central government, they will be able to decide how much money they want to raise and how they will spend it. This will come as a major culture shock to many councillors but I believe that most, especially the new generation, will embrace it. A plebiscite will be held next year, where registered voters in Dublin can directly vote for the Mayor of Dublin.
The next big step in the New Politics programme is the abolition of the Seanad. This was in our manifesto and we promised to do it. Sometimes in politics, you cannot keep your promises. Facts change or circumstances change or you cannot get your coalition partners to agree. But, this is a promise we can keep and there is no excuse for us not doing so.
A small, modern democracy like Ireland does not need two chambers in our parliament. Countries like Norway, Finland, Denmark, Luxembourg, Israel and New Zealand can all manage with one chamber. We can too. It will save millions of euros, some of which can be used to better resource a reformed Dáil and some to protect important public services.
Some argue that we should have a reformed Seanad but that will never happen in a meaningful way. Over thirty years ago, a referendum was passed to reform the entitlement to vote for the university seats but it was not implemented. Since then, there have been fifteen reports on reforming the Seanad. None have been implemented. Meaningful reform will not happen for a very simple reason - there is no consensus in favour of the new model for the Seanad. Some want direct elections. Others do not, pointing out that an elected Seanad would replicate the Dáil and end up in conflict with it, causing legislative gridlock as happens in the US and Italy. Some want a Seanad that is a sort of citizens' assembly, with quotas for all sorts of demographic groups and sub-groups, where the quota would be more important than the talents, experience and abilities of individual candidates. Others want a 1930's style corporatist Seanad made up of representative of industry, unions, NGOs and professions as originally envisioned by De Valera, or an elitist Seanad, made of up of the great and good but unelectable. Still more propose the 'buffet option', with an electorac process that involves a bit of everything on offer. Those who call for reform should be challenged to explain how their model would improve our democracy and to demonstrate that they have sufficient public support for it to get it through the necessary referendum.
Fine Gael's view is simple. We do not need a Seanad at all. We do not need more politicians. We do need a reformed Dáil and we are committed to building upon the changes already introduced by strengthening committees, giving TDs a stronger role in the legislative process and making the government much more accountable. The government is supposed to be a committee of the Dáil. Too often, it dominates the Dáil and that needs to change.
The Seanad referendum will not be easily won. We have already lost one referendum as a government on Oireachtas Inquiries. We can take nothing for granted. Our opponents will try to make it about Fine Gael or Enda Kenny or will make all sorts of promises about a reformed Seanad that they cannot honour. Our message must be simple. We are a small country. We need few politicians and a political system that costs us less. We do need a reformed Dáil and greater local government.
A referendum defeat will halt the momentum of the movement for further political reform. The government will not want to risk losing more referenda in the run in to a General Election. Some Oireachtas members will take the view that we have received no credit for the reforms introduced to date, so there is no point bothering with any more.
A strong YES vote in favour of abolition will demonstrate that the people are behind New Politics and want us to press on. It will spur the government one to continue with our Dáil reforms, to embrace more of the Constitutional Convention's recommendations and empower local government even more.
