Irish politicians’ gravy train intact despite escalating debt burden

The proposed €120 billion plan proposed at the two-day summit in Brussels last night is relatively modest when compared to the National Debt of Ireland, which nos stands at  €129 billion

While the Government wrestles with its conscience about the phenomenal debt burden on Irish taxpayers’ and the implications of the personal insolvency of many of them, one facet of that burden which seems utterly immune from the conscientious distress of the Government is the quantum of taxpayers’ money paid to political parties and Independent members of the Oireachtas under the Electoral Acts.

The sums involved are additional to the very substantial tax-free payments in respect of the Parliamentary Standard Allowance, the Travel and Accommodation Allowance and the other direct supports provided through the Oireachtas Commission at a cost of €130 million in 2011. They are simply outrageous, unconscionable and, in a society bearing a cumulative exchequer deficit well over €82 billion and a titanic National Debt, unaffordable.

The standard of accounting is risible in the case of political parties and non-existent in the case of Independent politicians. The quality of oversight reporting by the politically-compromised Standards in Public Office Commission is opaque, shoddy, wretched, inconsistent and disregarding of basic accounting conventions.

Thanks to the bountiful munificence of Charlie McCreevy in 2001 political parties have been granted over €78 million of taxpayers’ money since 1 January 2007 under the authority of the Electoral Acts to meet reported expenditure of under €64 million with €14 million left in their balance sheets. Last year 29% of the €13.3 million paid to political parties was carried over to 2012, probably as a consequence of the vast sums spent paying a myriad of ministerial political advisers.

The scale of these payments escalated since 2002 by 47% in line with increases in public sector pay but it is most noteworthy that payments to political parties did not reduce when public sector pay reduced from 2009 onwards.

Do taxpayers really need to: pay Fianna Fáil €28,542 in respect of depreciation, (a non-cash charge); pay Fine Gael €18,657 to spend on ‘donations’; pay the Labour Party €44,000 to spend on ‘international affairs’; provide €28,700 to the Sinn Féin ‘national finance department’ and leave €90,000 in the balance sheet of The Green Party, which has no Oireachtas membership? [/over]

Fine Gael and Labour voted against the appointment of a politician (former Fianna Fáil minister, Michael Smith) in a Dáil vote on 19 December 2007 to membership of the Standards Commission, a curtain-raiser initiative of the Ahern Government that preceded the publication of tribunal reports. It is interesting that only 15 of the 73 TDs who supported that motion are in the current Dáil and they include the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, John McGuinness, Independent Deputies Noel Grealish, Finian McGrath, Mattie McGrath and Michael Lowry.

Both the Taoiseach, Enda Kenny and the Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore,  participated in the Níl vote against that motion. If the Governing parties position in 2007 opposed the principle of a politician, or former politician, becoming a member of a commission whose mandate is to oversee the ethical standards of politicians and public officials’, why has this Government not already removed political influence from the Standards Commission, especially in the light of the tribunal reports’ findings and instructed it to improve the quality of its published reports rather than tolerating its interminable excuses for inertia and weakening moral authority?

Will the Government’s ambition to reduce the debt burden on taxpayers’ include a dramatic reduction in the amounts of State money paid to political parties to a level that is affordable and demand a more transparent and credible regime of accounting for this money, or does the Government merely intend to haunt society with threats, innuendo and rumours of more taxation, new charges and cuts in public services?

Political party State funding, a rich, rewarding gravy train

The scale of funding provided by taxpayers to political parties under the Electoral Acts and the Party Leader’s Allowance legislation, by any benchmark, is so outrageous, absurd, unaffordable and inadequately accounted for that political parties have become equivalent to bloated, featherbedded and State-dependent QUANGOs.

Figures recently published show that taxpayers provided €12.66 million last year to which a further €3.1 million was carried forward from 2010 bringing their spending capacity in 2011, courtesy of taxpayers’, to €15.77 million. They reported spending €11.88 million which means they brought forward €3.8 million to 2012; a 26% increase on the sum carried forward, unspent, from 2010, in an era of severe austerity, great personal sacrifice and massive cutbacks.
 
To put the scale in context, the British Government provided €8 million in 2011 to Opposition parties who successfully contested the 2010 general election for research support for front-bench spokesmen. The 2010 British general election consisted of a valid poll of 27.1 million votes. Our 2011 general election consisted of 2.2 million 1^st preference votes.

Despite the attachment of an auditor’s certificate the accounting for this money is pathetically obscure; devoid of candour and adequate transparency, notwithstanding the proximity of the Standards in Public Office Commission as overseer.

The Standards Commission advise that Fianna Fáil, for example, claimed to spend €28,542 on ‘depreciation’, a non-cash expense. Fine Gael spent €18,657 on ‘donations’. Labour spent €44,666 on ‘international affairs’. Sinn Féin spent €28,700 on its ‘national finance department’. The Green Party, with only 41,000 general election votes and without a single Oireachtas member, managed to spend €341,466 but have still brought forward over €90,000 to 2012. The pair of two-TD parties received so much funding that they are bringing forward almost €93,000 of unspent taxpayers’ money to 2012 leaving the four of them to eke out an existence on the €167,462 in tax-free travel, subsistence and Parliamentary Standard Allowances.

The People Before Profit Alliance spent just €1,000 on ‘pre-Budget research’ but over €7,500 on ‘travel and subsistence’, over and above the €20,000 their TDs collected in travel and subsistence to commute from the adjacent Dublin suburbs last year. The Socialist Party has obliged all taxpayers to pay €4,689 in respect of the production of Socialist Party publications. Independent members [/over] of the Oireachtas pocketed €713,885, free of income tax, without even an auditor’s certificate, or any obligation whatsoever to account for this money. Some of them tell us they donate their allowances to charity.

The Parliamentary Leader’s Allowance, which last year amounted to €7.2 million, is linked to pay increases in the civil service but the legislation does not compel a reduction in line with civil service pay cuts and the radical pruning of the public sector since 2009.

It is noteworthy, in the context of the statutory mandate that 30% of selected candidates in the next general election are to be female, that 1.4% of the €5.4 million provided to seven parties under the Electoral Acts was applied to the promotion of participation of women in political activity.

The foregoing expenditure is separate and distinct from the €6 million received, tax-free, directly by TDs in respect of the Parliamentary Standard Allowance and generous tax-free travel and subsistence allowances, which they receive when they turn up for the 100 days sitting of the Dáil each annum.

Spending last year on political parties is equivalent to an average of €1,311 for each 200 votes received by qualifying parties in the February 2011 general election. Political parties in Great Britain and the North are obliged to provide detailed annual audited accounts since 2003. The average overall subvention for each set of 200 votes won by qualifying parties in the last British general election in 2011 was €37.16, less than 3% of what Irish taxpayers are saddled with.

The ridiculous scale of political party spending in Ireland is also illustrated when the campaign cost of each vote cast, €4.17 in the 2011 general election is compared to the campaign cost of each vote cast in the 2010 British general election, €1.07.

Is there any other facet of the €52 billion in current expenditure that is spent by the Government so out of kilter with economic reality, where loose and ambiguous rules are tolerated and the standard of elementary accountability to stakeholders is so opaque?

How can the Irish Government, reform-minded and responsible for public expenditure, public sector reform and the adequacy of corporate governance standards look voters in the eye while this self-indulgent squandering orgy that is unnecessary and which is taking place directly under their collective nose?

The British political party subvention, incidentally, is restricted to Opposition parties with at least 2 MPs and more than 150,000 votes (0.55% of the national poll). It is based on three elements:

1. General funding of €18,600 per seat + €30,04 for every 200 votes

2. Apportioned travel expenses for Opposition parties subject to an overall limit of €204,000

3. A sum for the running of the Leader of the Opposition’s office

4. Salaries for three post holders: Leader of the Opposition’ Opposition Chief Whip and Assistant Opposition Whip

Where to now for the Equality Agenda?

THE Irish Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by The Equality Authority that women be admitted to membership of Portmarnock Golf Club in County Dublin under the Equal Status Act.  It was a split 3:2 decision.

This issue consumed a great deal of the resources and crusading zeal of The Equality Authority and was seen by some as a litmus test for the future of the equality agenda.

The case made its debut at the District Court in November 2003 who found in February 2004 that Portmarnock Golf Club did breach the Act by excluding women from membership.  The Club’s licence to sell alcohol was suspended for seven days the following May, although the execution of this suspension was deferred until the legal processes had reached finality.

The High Court, in June 2005, overturned the decision of the District Court and supported the Club’s contention that the Equal Status Act interfered with the right of members to enjoy freedom of association.

The Equality Authority appealed the High Court ruling last year arguing that golf is not peculiar to men.  This was countered with the argument that the networking opportunities afforded through Club membership essentially restricted women unduly.

The 2009 budget of The Equality Authority was reduced by 43% to €3.3 million.  The chief executive, Niall Crowley resigned and was replaced by a former principal officer from the Department of Equality, Justice and Law Reform, Miss Renee Dempsey.  She was reported at the time of her appointment of bringing “a wide range of experience across several government departments”.  But perhaps the most vital aspect of her experience is an understanding of the mindset of the sponsoring government department where she previously worked. 

When The Equality Authority awarded €3,500 to a former pupil of Dunmore Community School in County Galway last February on the grounds that he was discriminated against when he refused to have a hair cut, in compliance of school regulations, I felt outraged. An award of €3,500 in response to an exclamation to a young male pupil having a “girl’s hair style” and wanting to be “a trend setter”!  They could have awarded this person €30 million and the basic facts would not be transmuted, so why was any money awarded, I wondered?  I also speculated will the recipient of this award sue every employer or every public institution that is perceived to impede him on the grounds that his hair is long?  If so, that could harm his employment prospects in the current climate.

I believed the time time had come last February for a priorities to reviewed, especially when splashing out taxpayers money is concerned and that perhaps fresh adult supervision at The equality Authority would consolidate that process  I shared my views then with the Secretary General of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Chairman of The Equality Authority.  The position of chief executive had been vacant at that time but was filled following ‘an open, competitive and public process’.  The public profile of The Equality Authority has subsequently been less strident although a ricocheted gauntlet relating to its budget was  been thrown at the annual conference of The Green Party.

Any further change will be a matter for the Oireachtas.  Portmarnock Golf Club can continue to sell alcohol on its premises now that the legal process has reached finality.

Dublin Euro election outcome taking shape

The TNS/MRBI poll published in The Irish Times on 15^th and 16th May indicates that Fianna Fáil, with an 16% share of the poll (Eoin Ryan 11%, Eibhlin Byrne 5%) in Dublin, is faced with a real struggle to maintain its European Parliament seat in Dublin on June 5th . The party achieved a 23% share of the valid poll in the 2004 Euro election in Dublin. An 11% share of an opinion poll now is 14 percentage points short of quota. Where will transfers come from to fill this deficit?

The satisfaction rating of the Government at 10% is at an all-time historic low, and compares to 14% last February, 18% last November and 46% last June. How will the incandesence of voters find expression on June 5th among those now without a job, or the prospect of a job, or among those who have just seen at the end of May a further chink of their income confiscated in taxation? This government has allowed the Irish economy to behave since 2003 like a high-speed vehicle that had no brakes, no anti-roll bar, an engine with no coolant and no spare wheel. This posture was to suckle the vanity and delusion of a cluster of red-neck property developers, dinasour bankers and other sundry carpetbaggers. This government presided over an economy where citizens were paying up to 15 times their annual income for a very basic home, often in a very remote location. That is the direct consequence of politicians corrupting the planning process - when ten's of thousands of pounds and euro are transmitted in brief cases and brown envelopes. The chickens are coming home to roost. The voters will deliver their brown envelope at the end of a red-hot poker on June 5th and in subsequent elections. The cronies, the brothers', the sons' and daughters', the spouses' and the lovers' have will learn if inbreeding, nepotism and stroke politics is still attracting voter support.

The average satisfaction rating for the government previously in each of the past six years highlights the depth of the collapse in public support of the Government.

Average Annual Satisfaction with Government

2008	36%
2007	45%
2006	46%
2005	45%
2004	37%
2003	28%
	Source:TNS/MRBI

Fine Gael, who have a achieved a 6% gain in its share in indicative first preference support nationally in hypothetical general election have also improved their position in Dublin, no doubt partially attributable to the attraction of George Lee as their candidate in the Dublin South by-election. Gay Mitchell is achieving 26% support in a hypothetical Euro poll - 4% more than accomplished in the 2004 Euro election. Mitchell is considered to have been the most capable of the Irish MEP's

The Labour Party dropped 4 percentage points nationally and it Dublin stand at 21%, which is a 2% gain on 2004.

While Fianna Fáil is more convulsed by nepotism and inbreeding and the consequences from this, the Labour Party have a real challenge with respect to the age profile of their Dáil team. The average age of their current 20 members, today, May 15th 2009, is 57 years+ and this average will be well north of 60 years by the next scheduled date for a general election – May 2012. A colleague commented to me earlier that “all of their people are the same age as my father, or older” and younger voters will not identify with ‘daddy-clones’! Twelve of the curerent 20 deputies will be over 60 years old and the youngest will be 40. Many of the current cohort enjoy considerable personal support but this would not automatically transfer to a successor candidate as has been shown in places such as Cork South-West and Tipperary. de Rossa is 69 years old so he will be like an ancient cardinal if he were to remain an MEP until 2014.

Given the collapse of public confidence in this government, it is likely that that turnout in the European and local elections will be high as voters register their preferences directly. This will mean a quota in the region of 105,000 votes in the Dublin Euro constituency - 21,000 more than the 2004 quota.

Fine Gael support is particularly strong among those aged 50 and over but, reassuringly for FG, it has even support across the demographic spectrum. Fianna Fáil support is especially weak among the 35-49 age cohort – people with young families, but it is also weak among the 18-35 year olds. Fine Gael is strong among the AB social cohort while Fianna Fáil does worst among the ABC1 cohort.

The Green Party is attracting 6% support in Dublin and its support base is strongest among the 18-24 year olds and the ABC1 social cohort but is weakening since the 2007 general election. Their candidate, de Burca, has neither said anything, or done anything, to make a strong enough impact so far to put her into contention. It would be helpful if voters were to know what the party's stance with respect to the next referendum on The Lisbon Treaty before they cast their vote on June 5th. After all, this is an election to populate the European Parliament and the outcome of this referendum will define Ireland's relationship to the EU.

Sinn Fein is attracting 14% support. Its support is lowest among the AB social cohort but rises to 13% nationally among the C1working class category. This level of support is comparable to the share of the 2004 valid poll but is 11% short of quota. McDonald and deRossa were elected on the 6th count.

The Independent candidate, Patricia McKenna, achieved 8% in the TNS/MRBI poll while Joe Higgins, the Socialist achieved 7%. Higgins secured 23,000 votes in the 2004 election but he and his counterparts only obtained 11,500 votes in Dublin in the 2007 general election.

The Libertas candidate, at 1%, does not feature on the voters' radar. This is not surprising as she has said nothing to indicate what her potential competencies as an MEP would be. Her literature makes out of context comments about what she would like the electorate to believe are the vanalities of her rivals but cloaks her own identity in an absolutely opaque shroud. A wise electorate do not throw their support behind ghost candidates or vacuous slogans.

National Trends

	General Election Result 17 May 2002	General Election Result 24 May 2007	National Euro Election Result May 2004	TNS/MRBI Poll Feb 2009	TNS/MRBI Poll May 2009
Fianna Fáil	41.5%	41.5%	29.5%	22%	21%
Fine Gael	22.5%	27.3%	27.8%	32%	36%
Lab	10.8%	10.1%	10.6%	24%	20%
Green	3.8%	4.7%	4.3%	4%	3%
Sinn Féin	6.5%	6.9%	11.1%	9%	9%
Others	14.9%	9.5%	16.8%	9%	9%

This ought to be a fascinating set of elections because the voters will be mobilised and they are greatly distressed by turmoil so much of which is a local political creation. Yesterday, for example, the Fianna Fáil candidate in the Dublin South by-election spoke on radio about the National Management Assets Agency, Ireland’s ‘bad bank’ being “up and running”. This is the entity that is supposed to stabilise the nation’s zombie banks. Hours later, Michael Somers, the Chief Executive of the National Treasury Management Agency, spoke at the Public Accounts Committee and spoke of his concern about staffing and operational issues relating to NAMA. That is the type of stunted political thinking that inbreeding brings about – an absolute inability not just to see the wood from the trees, but to distinguish between a copse and a field of buttercups!

Dublin Gears Up for Euro Election on June 5th

It is 20 years since Dublin voters first directly elected MEP's. There have been 6 Euro elections since then and slightly more than 2 million valid votes to elect candidates to 24 seats - 4 for each election. Fianna Fail have won 27% and Fine Gael have won 25% of these 2 million votes. Fianna Fail and Fine Gael have each won 7 of the 24 seats. Labour also won 7, if the seat won by Proinsias de Rossa as a Workers Party candidate in 1989 is included. The Green Party won two and Sinn Fein won one.

The next Euro election will take place on June 5th. The Dublin constituency has grown by almost 33% since 1979 and its 820,000 voters comprise a very ethnically diverse population.

This election will be different becuase the Dublin Euro constituency has been made a 3-seater, which means that the quota will be higher, possibly as high as 105,500 votes.

The current cohort representing Dublin are:

• Gay Mitchell, Fine Gael
• Eoin Ryan, Fianna Fáil
• Proinsias de Rossa, Labour
• Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin
  

Eight candidates have been declared so far:

• Eoin Ryan and Eibhlin Byrne (Lord Mayor of Dublin), Fianna Fáil
• Gay Mitchell, Fine Gael
• Proinsias de Rossa
• Déirdre de Búrca, The Green Party
• Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Féin
• Caroline Simons, Libertas
  

Twelve candidates contested this election in 2004. The election will be based on the 2006 Census of Population revealed that Dublin had a population of 1,187,186, an increase of 5.7% over 2002.

2004 Election

The total poll was 435,136 of which there were 13,239 spoilt votes leaving a valid poll of 421,897 valid votes. The quota was 84,380.

Mitchell was elected on the first count with 90,749 votes or 1.08 of the quota.

Ryan was elected on the fifth count with 61,681 votes or 0.73 of a quota. But the second FF candidate meant that the party’s total vote in the election was 97,950 votes, or 116.1% of a quota.

De Rossa was elected on the 6th count with 54,344 votes, or 0.64% of a quota. But he had a running mate who brought the total vote of The Labour Party to 95,051, or 112.6% of a quota.

McDonald was the sole Sinn Féin candidate and polled 60,395 votes, or 14.3% of a quota.

2009 Election

The revision of the constituency to e 3-seater means that the quota rise to 25% of the valid poll and if the turnout is similar to the last Euro election that will translate into approximately 105,500 votes. The turnout is likely to be about 85% of the number that voted in the last general election. How will this impact the parties?

Fianna Fáil

Despite being hammered in the opinion polls and the appalling state of the economy, FF would need a drop of catastrophic proportions for Eoin Ryan to lose. They won 196,000 votes in Dublin in the 2007 general election.

Their challenge is to win an extra 7,500 votes above the number won in 2004 from a cohort of voters who have supported the Party before.

FF has 19 Dáil deputies in the Dublin Euro constituency. 90% of these made quota in the general election and FF has at least one TD in each of the 11 constituencies. The prospects of Eoin Ryan being returned to Europe are strong notwithstanding opinion poll trends.

Fine Gael

Mitchell won 90,749 votes in 2004 and the party won a total of 91,891 votes in the 11 Dublin constituencies in 2007. But FG has no representation in 3 Dáil constituencies and just 7 of its 10 Dublin deputies made quota in 2007, an election of revival for the party.

Fine Gael have been politically castrated in Dublin since the early 1980's. That was the era of pro-life referendums, divorce referendums and the beginning of Ireland becoming a more liberal, luralist society. But a rump of Fine Gael found it difficult to abandon its posture as pussy cat to the Archbishop of Dublin. The consequence of this is that Fine Gael have never broken 91,000 votes in Dublin so the 15,000 extra votes needed this time must come from voters who have never supported Fine Gael before. Are there enough of these? Probably by the end of the count

Given more favourable opinion poll ratings, a realistic challenge for FG would be to win 100,000 votes in Dublin in the Euro election. That would signal a basis of recovery in the capital in the run up to the next general election.

The Labour Party

If zombie trade unions, such as those on the brink of closing Lufthansa Technik at Rathcoole, the only business with serious investment plans in Ireland today, do not torpedo the advances made in the opinion polls, Labour should win a Euro seat in Dublin. Its total vote in 2004 was a very respectable 95,051 and in the 2007 general election Labour won 70,681 votes in Dublin – which means that it needs to win 35,000 more votes to make quota in the Euro election. deRossa polled 54,344 votes in the 2004 Euro election and it was the 40,707 votes of his running mate, Bacik, which secured his seat on the 6th count. But this candidate will be 69 years of age when this election takes place and I suspect his profile and impact may not be as strong across Dublin to successfully fight this campaign as a loner, as he would like to believe. Ronald Reagan won the US presidency at this age. But deRossa is not an actor and he has work to do this time round to demonstrate that he has the vitality and freshness for another 5 years!

Sinn Féin

McDonald won 60,395 votes in 2005 ousting the incumbent McKenna from The Green Party who won 40,445 votes. However, SF only polled 35,356 votes in the 2007 general election so there is quite a gap of 70,000 votes to attain the quota of 105,500 votes needed next month. The incumbent candidate has made little impact on the electorate and it is hard to see how she will overcome the deficit.

The Green Party

Christopher Fettis was the first candidate to contest the Euro election in Dublin. He did so in 1984, won 5,242 votes and lost his deposit. Trevor Sargent built on this base and won 37,317 votes in the 1989 European election. Patricia McKenna was triumphant in 1994 winning 40,388 votes, when the quota was 55,569. She was also successful again in 1999 but polled 35,659 when the quota was a tad higher at 56,135. She won 40,445 votes in 2004 but lost to Mary Lou McDonald

The Greens won 41,813 votes won in 2007 general election– enough to return 5 candidates to Dáil Éireann and the performance of their Ministers has been fairly solid.

Their Euro candidate, Deirdre de Búrca, has never held elected office in Dublin and her press release of April 22nd pandering to overtures to her to stand for Libertas does not define a candidate terribly sure of herself or with a compelling loyalty to the Greens. A waffling quotation from her to the effect that she refused the Libertas invitation for many reasons is pitiful. What next? Perhaps a press release to confirm that she does not use Jeyes Parazone bleach as a shampoo!

Their deputy, Paul Gogarty, managed to trivialise his stature in a recent Hot Press interview. He may as well have stood under the GPO and shouted "I am an inconsequential, marginalised political buffoon", so if the Greens want to the considered heavy political hitters their candidates need to sop scoring 'own goals'.

The Socialist Party

Joe Higgins won 23,218 in the 2004 Euro election and he and his candidates won 11,518 votes in the 2007 general election. Any advance on this will be progress!

Progressive Democrats

The PD's did not contest the 2004 Euro election. The won a total of 20,481 votes in Dublin in the 2007 general election acrosss nine constituncies but won only one Dublin seat - Mary Harney in Dublin Mid West. The wake before annihilation.

Others

Four independents won 14,089 votes in 2004 – 4% short of a quota between them. This would imply that the established parties garner over 75% of the votes . Dublin voters have been fairly conservative and consistent in their voting habits. But the pain felt in May as a consequence of lower pay packets, the absence of a job or the prospect of a job could test their patience.

Conclusion

Both FF and FG should reach shouting distance of quota. A battle over 40,000 votes will determine the 3rd seat and nothing is absolutely certain!

A convincing campaign by deBurca could return the Greens to Europe from the capital. Is there a catalyst for a recovery by Sinn Fein and what is this?

The voters will not respond to the narcisstic social science experiment manifested by Libertas, especially in such uncertain times. Their founder may rant about the anonymous bureaucratic control from Brussels but his own derring-do is, frankly, anonymous ill-defined!

It would appear from opinion polls that voters are experiencing a certain amount of 'mature reflection' with respect to The Lisbon Treaty and recovery in the context of prevailing and prospective economic prospects.

52 Senators Directly Elected in 26 Counties

The relevance of Seanad Éireann, the Irish Senate, got an airing on RTE’s Late Late Show on Friday, March 20th. Many people strongly believe that it should be shuttered; other consider that an urgent and radical overhaul is required

Thirty two nations operate a single parliamentary chamber. Many are small countries with relatively homogenous populations. These include Denmark, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Singapore and Sweden, to mention some.

Forty three countries opt for a duel parliamentary system, like Ireland, and several of these have federal structures. Examples include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. An argument often cited in favour of a bicameral structure relates to the complexity of their demographic structure and a risk that elements of their society, or its former aristocracy if there was one, would be otherwise excluded from the governing system.

The first Seanad was convened on 11 December 1922 by Timothy Healy the Governor General. Members swore an oath prescribed by Article 17 of the Constitution of the Irish Free State. Its members included such luminaries as the banker Henry Seymour Guinness, Lord Glenavy, the former Lord Chancellor of Ireland from 1917 to 1921 and pioneer of the Courts of Justice Act 1924 which established the court service in newly independent Ireland, Sir Nugent Talbot Everard, the former High Sheriff of Meath, Galway born British Army General Sir Bryan Mahon, The 5th Marquis of Headfort, Andrew Jameson, a former Governor of Bank of Ireland, The Earl of Wicklow and Nobel Laureate William Butler Yeats. The oldest senator on inauguration day, Strabane-born Dr George Sigerson (1836-1925) was appointed chairman for the first day because he was the oldest member. The Sigerson Cup came into being in 1911 in his memory. When the Seanad met on the second day of its existence, 12 December 1922, two senators were proposed as candidates for chair, Sir Thomas Henry Grattan Esmonde, a former Irish Parliamentary Party MP and Lord Glenavy. Lord Glenavy was elected Cathaoirleach and Mr James Douglas as Leas Cathaoirleach. The final meeting of the first Seanad took place on 19 May 1936.

Seanad Éireann, as we know it today, consists of 60 members and came into existence on 27 April 1938. A knowledge of the Irish language, as well as a thorough grasp of parliamentary procedure, were deemed to be the vital qualities of a Cathaoirleach. Senator Seamus O hEochadha, also known as An Fear Mór, was elected. Candidates for senator are nominated by one of several vocational panels, the senate electoral costituencies comprising graduates of Trinity College Dublin or the National University of Ireland. Those chosen by the vocational panels are elected by the country's county councillors and Dail deputies. 49 of the 60 candidates are thus elected; the remaining 11 are nominated by An Taoiseach and these usually comprise political cronies either on the way in, or the way out, of parliamentary politics. Just a handful of distinguised individual have arrived in the Senate courtesy of a Taoiseach's nomination since 1938.

Today, there is a huge need for politicians with highly tuned political skills. Volatile Irish political opinion polls mirror an electorate greatly traumatised and threatened by unprecedented economic instability and horrified by the subversive leadership of the banks that aggravated the severity of this downturn in Ireland. Many decisions of unprecedented importance are pending. Each of the political parties in the Oireachtas has among its ranks some truly committed, able and talented members but there are also far too many in each of the parties whose capacity to inspire has become obsolete and uninspiring. If there is a dearth of real leadership how will this be filled, notwithstanding which combination is in power and forms a government.

The political system will only attract high calibre candidates if they have the chance of being able to make a real, sustainable, impact in a radically reformed legislature. The starting point for radical reform is Seanad Éireann with a different mandate, expanded powers and greater integration with both the lower House and the local authorities.

There have been 12 official reports addressing the issue of Seanad reform from 1928 to 2002 but we still have a grossly dysfunctional institution that has become an asylum for former TD’s and a crucible for prospective TD’s. The process of electing senators by county councillors and serving Deputies, based on a nomination from a vocational panel, is redundant. The university constituencies no longer represent the entire third and fourth tier of education in Ireland. These voting processes may have had some relevance when the nation was an adolescent, its institutions immature and when the worldwide capacity to instantly communicate was very costly, or non-existent.

Vocational issues in Ireland have found an effective voice through the partnership process of the past 22 years. The electorate has no empathy with senators because they did not elect them. It would be surprising if more than 1% of the electorate could name 10 of the 60 members of the Seanad. They are strangers to the population as a whole.

It is also an impertinence for political parties, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, Sinn Féin and The Labour Party to list their Senate members as a component of a Dáil electoral constituency, on the basis of their residence, unless and until they have been chosen to contest a prospective Dáil election. The Green Party does is not at fault in this repect.

The practice of An Taoiseach nominating 11 members is another perversion, especially in circumstances where An Taoiseach is not directly elected by all citizens.

A reformed Senate should be directly elected by all eligible citizens.

Its membership should be limited to 52 members, two from each of the 26 counties. It should have the capacity to initiate legislation and approve certain State appointment. The Oireachtas committee system could be the venue to eliminate inconsistencies in the legislative proposals of both Houses, should these arise. The Cathaoirleach of Seanad Éireann should have the same status and salary as the Dáil counterpart. Closer linkages could be fostered with local authorities if the senate candidate who secured the greatest number of votes in a county was also mandated by that election to become chairman of the largest local authority in that county for the lifetime of the Seanad. An exception could be made in the case of Dublin City Council which is to have a directly elected executive mayor by 2011. A wider talent pool, mandated by the electorate, would also be available from which to choose cabinet ministers and minster of state (whose overall numbers clearly need to be reduced from the present 20 and aligned to credible political functions).

The consequence of these initiatives should be a streamlined legislature that has an abundance of talent; a legislature which is more effective and more efficient and an electorate somewhat more reassured that the nation is on the road to recovery and not the road to perdition.