Review of system on the cards amid criticism of ‘do-nothing Dáil’

Half of the Cabinet has yet to put approve a single piece of legislation almost a year after the formation of the Government, with “internal angst” in Fine Gael blamed for weak law-making.

Six ministers, along with the Taoiseach, have failed to put through any legislation since the Fine Gael-Independent Alliance minority government was formed last May.

The Government is to review the system of “new politics” after the Easter break as all sides now believe the current system is not working and a massive backlog of legislation is piling up.

Opposition parties have again hit out at Government for enacting just 23 bills, resulting in a “do-nothing Dáil”.

In an interview with the Irish Examiner, Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin branded the Government’s legislative programme as “weak”, claiming that they “haven’t been assertive enough and they are not leading from the front in relation to legislation”.

Mr Martin said: “Fundamentally, it’s up to the Government to lead on the policy front and lead on the legislative front and government hasn’t been leading.

“I think part of the problem has been the internal angst from within Fine Gael from the get-go.

“Fine Gael were not happy with forming the minority government, even though they were getting the lion’s share of the posts and positions, and the fact that Fianna Fáil were facilitating that.

“Then you had the angst of losing so many seats in the election and then they turned on their leader; they have been sniping at the Taoiseach for quite some time.”

Ministers in the departments of education, agriculture, arts, children, foreign affairs, and jobs have not enacted any bills since they came to office. However, other departments including health, housing and justice have managed to get through several pieces of legislation.

While opposition parties have put forward many private members motions which they hope to get into law, none have so far been fully passed and there are now 140 pieces of legislation at different stages in the slow-moving system.

Mr Martin said that has to be looked at because “there is no point passing legislation that is not getting anywhere”.

“Some of the parties are exploiting it and they are just putting down motions that they know will never see the light of day and are not going to happen immediately,” he said. “There has to be give and take on all sides to make the Dáil work.”

This was echoed by government chief whip Regina Doherty who said a review is now required and this would go ahead after the Dáil resumes.

“There is a need for a review so we can actually look at the bits that have worked and the bits that have not worked,” she said.

Ms Doherty also said the amount of time allocated to the Government has decreased in the current Dáil meaning less time to press ahead with legislation.

Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar said a minority government means it is inevitably harder to get legislation through.

“The new Dáil procedures, like pre-legislative scrutiny by committees, also makes it slower,” said Mr Varadkar. “I don’t think this a bad thing, though. Bad law is rushed through, good law is examined properly and reflected on.

“I don’t think, however, parliamentary procedures are the main cause of Dáil delays. Rather it’s delays in getting things drafted. We need to scale up our legislative capacity in Government to improve this.”

Yet again describing it as a “do-nothing Dáil”, Labour leader Brendan Howlin said that legislation has “all but ground to a halt” but, at the same time, government business regularly finishes early.

“Important laws are being delayed as the Government is worried they might be amended. And anything controversial is sent to a special committee or for consultation,” said Mr Howlin.