We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
FORMER TAOISEACH Bertie Ahern has called for an unprecedented cut in the size of the Dáíl – suggesting that Ireland could make do with as few as 70 TDs.
Ahern has also spoken out in favour of reforming the electoral system so that each Dáil constituency only has one TD.
Interviewed for a study commissioned by the Houses of the Oireachtas, Ahern argued that the abolition of the dual mandate – where TDs were no longer allowed to hold seats on local councils – had freed up time time for most TDs.
He also argued that most of a TD’s time, irrespective of that, was tied up in dealing with state agencies which were not well suited at interacting directly with the public.
“Dealing with various State agencies is a large part of a TD’s constituency work and if those agencies were more accessible and more approachable, people wouldn’t feel the need to have a TD or a Councillor speak ontheir behalf,” Ahern told the study.
The former taoiseach – who led the government between 1997 and 2008 – said a TD’s workload could be mitigated by having a support staff of five people, one of whom could be solely tasked with scrutinising legislation.
The document, compiled by solicitor Dr Brian Hunt in his capacity as the first Parliamentary Fellow at the Houses of the Oireachtas, was compiled in 2010 but formally released by the Oireachtas to the public this week.
Hunt noted that the reduction in the number of TDs would hamper the work of Oireachtas committees, which in turn would mean the quality of legislation would ultimately suffer.
Elsewhere in the document, Ahern says the use of parliamentary ‘guillotines’ – where the time allocated for a debate is deliberately limited – so that legislation could be passed wholesale without the possibility of vital amendments being defeated by the opposition.
“In an ideal world it would be better if we didn’t have the guillotine. It’s not good that sections of legislation are not reached during a debate, it’s clearly not agood process,” the former Fianna Fáil leader said.
He also argues that the nature of government means that while backbenchers are more likely to raise concerns directly with a minister, opposition TDs will raise them in the Dáil – consuming time “which could otherwise be used for scrutinising legislation.”
While he does not outwardly call for the Seanad to be abolished, he does suggest that the method of electing Senators should be amended.
“Major reforms such as the reduction in the number of TDs has not happened because to achieve it you need cross party consensus and that just is not forthcoming,” Ahern said.
The current government has asked the Constituency Commission to reduce the number of TDs elected, and is expected to present proposals in the coming months which will reduce the number of TDs from 166 to between 153 and 160.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
best of luck to all running today, ye are great,well done.
O’Brien
It’s Raining – on Denis O’Brien especially today in The Journal – but just not where The Comments should be raining down on the Gobaloon ???
Run along to An Pobhloct for their comments section…. oh wait!
So many women running for so many brillant causes! Best of luck to them all & have fun!
1.25% wont complete it!
How original.
Probably more than 1.25% won’t complete it…
But less than the 56%(men) and 45%(women) who will survive 10 years of cancer…
Best of luck to all running.
Tomorrow’s Independent will report that Denis O’Brien won both the Cork and Dublin Marathon.
“The rain is forecast for most of June and will extend into July, with a high probability of frequent reoccurrence throughout August. I’m Irish weather, thank you, that’s all the news for now.”
Blocking the city streets. This should be run in the park.
That’s the spirit Shane!
I’m assuming you aren’t athletic or sporty… Half the attraction of running a marathon or race is to run through different terrains and seeing cites that you don’t normally have the opportunity to see on foot.
Using your logic why not bring in a few shipping container load of treadmills
In case you missed it, there’s a blooming festival in the park Shane. A blooming big one at that.
Drew – Do you compete in theMarathons around China ??!!
@Shane. Get a life Shane. Remember also that you too may benefit some day from the money raised today by the thousands of women running in aid of so many good causes. Good on them.
Where is the finish line. Want to drop the kids of with the Mrs just as she crosses the line :)
Fitzwilliam st upper.
Good luck and fair play to all those taking part, especially those who aren’t exactly ‘ super-fit ‘.
Personally, I’m exhausted after just running a bath.
Correction – it’s the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon.
Thanks Orla for changing it but not acknowledging my correction :-)
What do you want? A medal?
Couple of boxes of Flora and I’ll keep quiet the next time.
Hi Peter.
The change was actually made before you posted your comment. When an article is updated it can take a few minutes before every reader sees the corrected version.
Enjoy the rest of your bank holiday.
Kind regards,
Órla
…and thanks for the tip, nonetheless!
Thanks for correcting. Don’t worry I knew you were aware it was VHI and it was just a typo. Have a great bank holiday yourself :-)
burned!
Suppose no time for proof-reading ( or research) with all the courageous D.O’B articles they’re writing. #nobleProfession.
I am actually sick of the DOB comments especially on articles where they are highly inappropriate. If you are that upset over the journal not reporting I suggest you switch media outlets!
Shane stay in and catch up on your soaps big aulwan
28-30 degs C here, clear blue skies, a nice cooling breeze, but it’s a normal working day. :-(
June 1st 2015 and summer has arrived in Ireland
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1jpWtsgJ3k
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
Non-TCF/GVL Vendors
have your say