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Tuesday 20 October 2020
The presidential age referendum is a watered-down version of attempts at real political reform.
Congratulations, you’ve been elected! Luckily you can avoid living up to any promises you’ve made – just follow this guide.
The response to the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention on political reform reveals the truth about the Government’s attitude to democracy.
Eoghan Muphy talked parliamentary reform in a wide-ranging interview with TheJournal.ie this week.
TDs have complained that there is a false impression being created that politicians are not at work because they are absent from the Dáil chamber.
One proposal would see TDs serve a maximum of two consecutive terms in the Dáil.
Strict new coronavirus measures are now in effect – here’s what they mean for you.
Over the past three years the Government has been completely focused on job creation, but there must also be a programme of real political reform, writes Charlie Flanagan TD.
The party has outlined a set of radical political reforms which will have little chance of being implemented by the current government.
No real savings can now be made for 12 years in Irish Water, while we create a duplicate of the existing arrangements and also set up an expensive new central agency to boot, writes Eamon Ryan.
Rather than vote Yes or No, a deputy will be able to officially abstain from a vote on a piece of legislation or a motion under changes likely to be implemented later this year.
It’s no surprise that the opposition doesn’t think the government has done enough Dáil reform, but TDs think that even some changes that have been introduced aren’t working.
A letter from the chairpersons of the Oireachtas committees to the Ceann Comhairle has raised “serious concerns” about the workloads faced in 2014 as a result of the plans to scrutinise legislation before it comes before the Dáil.
SIPO is also in the middle of a disagreement with Minister Hogan about proposed accounting reforms for political parties.
Changes to the question time have been criticised but the government chief whip has defended the new format following near-farcical scenes in the chamber on Thursday.
The Transport Minister was frank about the government’s control of the legislature in the Dáil this afternoon.
Under changes taking effect this week Leaders’ Questions move to midday on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“Well, I come in peace, not in war,” Kenny told members in the upper house this afternoon.
A new bill published yesterday will ensure that unspent allowances from TDs and Senators are repaid for the first time.
The government has published the Oireachtas Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Amendment Bill 2013 today which will deal with the controversial party leaders’ allowance.
For the first time in the 93-year history of the Oireachtas, citizens now have a direct route to influence the parliamentary agenda through the Petitions Committee, writes its chairman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
Fine Gael backbenchers quizzed the Taoiseach on political reform in the Dáil last night.
One of their members Denis Naughten TD also says that “there might have been a different result on Saturday had the Dáil had been reformed first.”
Committees would be radically overhauled and given the task of scrutinising legislation to an even greater degree under the government’s reform plans.
Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Green Party have rounded on Enda Kenny’s proposals to lengthen Dáil sittings and beef up the pre-legislative processes.
The Dáil will start earlier on a Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays than it currently does and Friday sittings will be every two weeks instead of every month as is the case at present under government proposals outlined today.
Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe has hinted at possible changes to the strict party whip system as the coalition will today launch its plans for Dáil reform.
The government chief whip has told TheJournal.ie that the coalition has no plans to amend Dáil standing orders as some Fine Gael TDs and senators outside of the Fine Gael parliamentary party are seeking to do.
The party has said the proposal to abolish the Seanad came from a New Politics document published in March 2010, six months after Enda Kenny first called for the chamber to be scrapped.
The opposition party released a policy discussion document this week which proposes a raft of reforms to the way the Irish parliament does business.
Micheál Martin has proposed a series of radical reforms if Fianna Fáil was in government at the MacGill Summer School in the Glenties tonight.
But the independent TD and several of his colleagues want the upper house reformed and hopes to get support from Labour and Fine Gael TDs this week.
The Referendum Commission will be chaired by Justice Elizabeth Dunne, whenever the Oireachtas passes the referendum bill.
The formal legislation to change the Constitution and delete the Seanad is out today. So what’s in it?
Former Tánaiste Michael McDowell is arguing for the retention and the reform of the Seanad.
Abolition of the upper house will be a decision for the Irish people, the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said this morning.
A referendum to overhaul the Oireachtas and abolish the Seanad is planned for early October.
The 100-member Constitutional Convention has voted to investigate “an entirely new electoral system” for picking TDs.
Goverment TDs should be allowed to vote against their party on certain matters under proposals by backbench TD Eoghan Murphy in an internal document circulated among Fine Gael members this week.
The Fianna Fáil leader said he had a “good chat” with his predecessor at a recent funeral but neither Cowen nor Bertie Ahern have any input to party policy.
THE IRISH FARMERS Association has urged Irish MEPs to vote to ban words traditionally linked to meat products from being used on vegetarian alternatives.
The European Parliament is to vote this week on the terminology used for plant-based meat and dairy substitutes.
Amendments put forward would restrict the naming of such products so that they could not use terms normally associated with meat products.
One amendment would curtail the use of terms such as ‘steak’, ‘sausage’, ‘escalope’, ‘burger’ or ‘hamburger’ on products that do not exclusively contain meat.
The IFA has written to MEPs urging them to accept both amendments to protect Irish consumers and the agricultural industry here.
IFA President Tim Cullinan said yesterday that dairy products or plant-based meat branded with ‘real’ meat descriptions is “deliberately misleading to our consumers and undermines our industry.”
What do you think: Should vegetarian foods be allowed use words like ‘steak’ and ‘burger’?
Poll Results:
Share your story: voices@thejournal.ie
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