Only legitimate response is inclusive process of reform

Next week’s budget is quite rightly the focus of families throughout the country and my party will, in the next few days, set out its alternative for a fairer approach to recovery.

However, everyone should also take the time to acknowledge the lessons of the Seanad referendum.

This was intended as the Government’s final say on the matter of reforming our political institutions. They wanted to abolish the Seanad, leave everything else untouched, and claim to have delivered a ‘democratic revolution’.

The people said no and it is now the duty of the Government to respond.

It is right for the Taoiseach to step back and consider what this defeat means for his approach to political reform, but it would be completely unacceptable if this led to delay and inaction.

This result reflects public reaction to both the proposal itself and the Government’s way of doing business.

Over the last two and a half years, the Taoiseach has refused to engage in any meaningful reform discussions with other parties. On the Seanad, his position was “my mind is made up so I don’t need to discuss it with anyone”.

In the Dáil chamber, I repeatedly requested and failed to secure the sort of basic consultation which has been normal in the past.

While Fine Gael and Labour deliver speeches praising their own reforming zeal and claim to have completely changed the Dáil, people can see every day on their screens the reality of a parliament dominated by the Government and where it uses its position to shout down opponents and shut down debate.

A Government with an overwhelming majority, which feels it doesn’t need to discuss or debate proposals with others, is the reason we ended up with the crude abolition proposal seen on Friday.

There was a consensus for a deep reform of politics but Government had no interest in working with others. As late as last Wednesday, I attended a meeting with the Taoiseach to discuss changes to the Dáil’s workings. His position was that anything the opposition had to propose might be talked about in the future, but only after the Government’s plans were pushed through.

No one who participated in this campaign argued for the retention of the status quo. Every voice on the No side argued for a reformed Seanad as part of wider reform — including the reform of Dáil Éireann and Rialtas na hÉireann (the Government).

So this result does not mark a barrier to reform, it is an endorsement of more radical reform. The core of this must be to give us a parliament which is more expert in handling the public’s business and more independent of government.

Never forget that, in the years before the financial crash, the Oireachtas spent more time debating greyhound doping than financial regulation.

Things have actually become worse in the last two and a half years. Legislation is scrutinised less before being enacted, and ministers are refusing to answer even basic questions about personal behaviour.

Meanwhile, the Dáil sits for longer but does less.

My party has set out a detailed list of more than 70 changes to the Oireachtas and Government which would have a radical impact if implemented. They would turn the Seanad into a more democratic and effective chamber, taking a lead in important but neglected areas like reviewing EU legislation.

They would also create expert support services which would, for example, give the Oireachtas the ability to oversee regulators in vital areas such as financial services and energy.

Most of all, they would loosen the complete control the Government now has on every element of the work of the Oireachtas.

This is an agenda which respects the will of the people as voiced in this referendum. This week, I will call on the Taoiseach to agree a formal process for considering real reform and insisting that a short time limit be set for this work.

The referendum was also a significant rebuke to the Government’s way of speaking to the public.

Fine Gael, in particular, ran a cynical, negative campaign.

No government party has ever before tried to amend the Constitution with such a dishonest and populist set of arguments.

When they saw the 74% poll ratings in favour of abolition during the summer, the Government clearly thought it could bludgeon the proposal through without a serious debate.

This result was a rebuke to a too complacent, too powerful, and too arrogant Government.

The only legitimate response from them is to engage now in the process of real reform of Irish politics.

* Micheál Martin is the leader of Fianna Fáil