The response to the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention on political reform reveals the truth about the Government’s attitude to democracy.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
JUNE HAS BEEN a bit of a mixed bag, weather wise, to say the least.
We’ve had actual summer days with temperatures hitting over 20 degrees and then we have days like today – lashings of rain and a bit of a nip in the air.
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This morning, we want to know: Have you stuck the heating on this June?
Mostly cloudy, a.m. showers, then breezy
Max: 19 °C
Min: 11 °C
Variable clouds with a couple of showers
Max: 17 °C
Min: 10 °C
