Opinion: TDs should vote for taoiseach under proportional representation

In the aftermath of the general election, we are being told how the Dáil could work more effectively with the government being obliged to listen to all TDs.

This is all fine until you ask “which government?” and “how do we elect a taoiseach?”.

But it is within our grasp to give Ireland an effective parliamentary democracy. TDs should vote for the taoiseach under proportional representation. That elected taoiseach would then be obliged to select ministers who reflect the will of the Dáil, the will of the people.

This could be done this week. Article 13 of the Constitution states: "The President shall, on the nomination of Dáil Éireann, appoint the Taoiseach, that is, the head of the Government or Prime Minister.

“The President shall, on the nomination of the Taoiseach with the previous approval of Dáil Éireann, appoint the other members of the Government.”

All that is required is for the 158 grown women and men elected as our representatives to perform their job with a fresh mind and with a sense of the public interest.

Recent legislation enables the incoming Dáil to elect a ceann comhairle by secret ballot.

It is a matter for TDs to decide whether the vote for taoiseach should also be by secret ballot.

Legislative change and Dáil standing orders may be amended by the new Dáil if necessary.

For purposes of stability in such a living parliament, it would make sense to determine that general elections would take place at fixed intervals (as recently legislated for in the UK) and that the taoiseach would remain in place unless subject to a vote of confidence or resignation.

Why party leaders?

After the election of a ceann comhairle, nominations will take place on Thursday for a taoiseach. Traditionally, leaders of parties are nominated.

It is worth noting – in passing – that there are very good reasons why the taoiseach in a truly vibrant Dáil need not be a party leader.

We have a gold-standard electoral system: under our proportional representation, the share of seats in the Dáil is rarely wildly at variance with the electorate’s first preference.

The other vital votes under our Constitution are also conducted under PR; we should follow through and rid ourselves of what is no more than a convention from the UK parliamentary system.

Those of us with long memories will remember the years 1987-1989 when the the main opposition party (Fine Gael) supported the then government on macroeconomic policies (the 'Tallaght strategy').

Curiously – and despite how the media have reported this in the decades since – Fine Gael gained support in the 1989 election in both popular vote and seats (from 27.07 per cent to 29.29 per cent – 51 TDs to 55 TDs).

In that summer of 1989, polls showed Alan Dukes as the most respected party leader.

This was because he and his party – in very different circumstances – did something radical that responded to the reality they faced.

No ‘Tallaght strategy’

Such a ‘Tallaght strategy’ is not a realistic approach today for three reasons. First, the two largest parties are too close in numbers.

Second, the smaller party today (Fianna Fáil) emerges from an election with significant gains and their tail up whereas in 1987, the smaller party (Fine Gael) had emerged from a battering period in government with consequent seat losses.

Third, while a majority of the electorate voted for the two traditional parties there is no indication that they voted for them to have an arrangement of any sort.

Even a cursory perusal of the election results shows that there has not been a great movement to the hard left or indeed, to the hard right.

What happened instead is that the larger political parties spent almost all their time in the election campaign going on and on about the past.

That is why one of the most ground-shifting elections in our time was amongst the most tedious.

The Irish electorate have rejected every government on offer.

This is because none of the solutions seemed to match the problem: that is, who is to be trusted to steer Ireland through the coming storms or to promise the sort of root and branch reform of public services that would deliver value for money.

Given a chance, this Dáil could do this.

The Dáil reflects the popular vote. The election of taoiseach and government does not.

The failure in translation is not in the Constitution or in our voting system; the failure is at the last hurdle in the Dáil chamber itself.

This article was edited on Monday, March 7th, 2016

Peter White is a public affairs consultant. From 1984 to 1993, he was press secretary to Fine Gael