There is general agreement in the Dβil that reform is a good thing; old-fashioned procedures should be abandoned and technological advances, as well as the instant news society, should be embraced. A year ago, chief whip Seamus Brennan introduced a document, A Dβil for the New Millennium, and with the Fine Gael's A Democratic Revolution also on the table, the whips have been discussing the matter since. It provides for such things as electronic voting, morning as opposed to late-night adjournment debates, longer committee sittings, changes in standing orders, the operation of a strict 30-member quorum, provision for topical issues to be raised on the order of business, and a special backbenchers slot.
The reforms were due to be introduced, by all-party agreement, before Christmas. Now, however, there has been a slight hold-up. The Greens and many Independents are not happy. The magical number for full recognition is seven, and Brennan has been urging them to form a technical group for this purpose. The problem however is that they are such a disparate collection that agreement is impossible.
Firstly, there are the four who support the Government: Jackie Healy Rae, Mildred Fox, Harry Blaney and Tom Gildea. Then there are Greens Trevor Sargent and John Gormley and Sinn FΘin's Caoimhgh∅n ╙ Caolβin. After that, there's the dispossessed - Michael Lowry, who votes Fine Gael, and Liam Lawlor and Denis Foley who vote Fianna Fβil. Then there remains lefties Tony Gregory, Joe Higgins and Seamus Healy. Try getting agreement among that lot.
The Independents, some of whom are represented by Gormley at the whips' meeting, are happy about most reforms but want greater speaking time for the non-aligned as part of the package. Chairman Brennan and the major party whips argue that you can't give the same time to a one- or two-man- band as you do to a 50-member party. The most recent meeting on the subject was on Wednesday, and Brennan says 95 per cent of the reforms are finalised and will be unveiled in January. He agrees smaller parties are not well-catered for in standing orders, and is trying to find a formula to satisfy them. Speaking time in their own right might be the way, he says. And there the matter of Dβil reform rests - for the moment.