THE GOVERNMENT has been accused by Opposition parties of “foot-dragging” on the constitutional convention and putting the body into “cold storage”.
“Despite the fanfare announcing its establishment, the Government appears to have made little progress on it and it looks set to be put back into cold storage until at least after the referendum,” said Fianna Fáil whip Seán Ó Fearghaíl.
“This should be no surprise from a Government whose main priority is the press release, but it will be a disappointment to those who took them at their word on political reform.”
Sinn Féin vice-president Mary Lou McDonald said: “There has been a lot of foot-dragging on this from the Government.”
She said a meeting with party leaders, which was supposed to be held before Christmas, did not in fact take place until the end of February.
“Questions have been raised repeatedly by Sinn Féin in an attempt to get a timetable. I don’t know if they are distracted but they have taken their eye off the ball,” Ms McDonald said.
“We are worried that the Government is going about this in a piecemeal way. They trumpeted it, but they are not treating it as a serious, big initiative,” she added.
Mr Ó Fearghaíl said his party would continue with its own plans for a nationwide tour and debate on the proposed changes.
“Detailed proposals on changing the way politics works are being developed by our special committee on constitutional reform and will be published before the summer,” he added.
A sum of €300,000 has been included in the vote (budget allocation) of the Department of the Taoiseach in 2012 to cover the cost of the convention in the current year.
The Government is proposing that two-thirds of the 100-strong membership convention would be chosen from the electoral register, which would submit its final report “within 12 months of its establishment”.
Items on the agenda would include: reform of Dáil electoral system; reducing the presidential term to five years; giving citizens abroad the right to vote in presidential elections; provision for same-sex marriages and reducing the voting age to 17 years.
