POLITICAL REFORM:FORMER FINE Gael minister Gemma Hussey has written to party leader Enda Kenny and Labour's Eamon Gilmore proposing the Seanad should be retained and the number of ministers of state limited to six.
Both Fine Gael and Labour favour the abolition of the Seanad, while Taoiseach Brian Cowen reduced the number of ministers of state from 20 to 15 in 2009.
Ms Hussey said the proposals and others emerged from a recent seminar of cross-party former parliamentarians.
“We hope that they will form part of the new programme for government currently being negotiated,” Ms Hussey said.
The Irish Parliamentary Society of former Oireachtas members proposed that “the Seanad should be retained in view of its valuable legislative role”, and “there should not be more than six or seven ministers of state”.
Ms Hussey was critical of Mr Kenny during the election campaign, claiming he had a tendency to “freeze”. The Fine Gael leader replied that his former government colleague was now out of politics and “should stay out of politics”. She later softened her remarks about Mr Kenny.
Other proposals, sent to all party leaders yesterday, included a suggestion that could boost the low number of women in the Dáil.
It was proposed that no more than two-thirds of candidates nominated by a party prior to an election should be of either sex.
“In practice, this would involve a requirement that one-third of candidates should be women, leaving it to the electorate to decide whether they wanted to elect them or not.”
Other members of the society include former taoiseach Dr Garret FitzGerald; former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox; former tánaiste and EU commissioner Ray MacSharry; former Labour Party minister Barry Desmond and former Fianna Fáil TD Jim Glennon.
The document also proposed that a draft of expenditure proposals in the budget should be published six weeks before budget day with a view to an open debate on the government’s proposals.
The Dáil power to undertake public inquiries should be restored, the society said.
“Abuse of the guillotine should be ended by bringing legislation forward in good time so as to enable its enactment after adequate debate.”
There should be much greater willingness to consider and accept amendments to legislation from members of the Dáil.
There should be a limit of “10 or perhaps slightly more” Oireachtas committees, which would have the power to compel ministers to attend. No whip should be applied at committee meetings.
The document also said the Civil Service should be adequately endowed with the necessary expertise to make possible the preparation of legislation with the system, rather than employing outside consultants or legal firms.
