ONE EXPLANATION advanced for the rejection of the Lisbon Treaty is a disconnect between voters and their Oireachtas representatives. Pro-Lisbon Treaty parties won more than 80 per cent of the national vote in the general election yet only 47 per cent of voters heeded their advice in the referendum. And in a representative democracy, any widening of the gap in understanding between the public and the political class is worrying.
In this context the political row in Leinster House this week about Dáil holidays, when set against the background of a crisis in Ireland's relationship with the EU, is unfortunate. The Government, belatedly, defused the dispute by extending this Dáil session by a week. Such parliamentary wrangles about the length of the Dáil recess have become a standard feature of end-of-term political exchanges. And a bemused public has come to regard this annual ritual as little more than a sham fight between government and opposition.
Governments always insist they have been fully accountable to the Dáil, having attended for some 90 days in plenary session in an average parliamentary year. And opposition parties always argue, as Labour did in this week's debate, that the national parliament should sit longer and work harder. Labour favours a six-week summer break and a four-day parliamentary week. Yet, as we have seen, zeal for Dáil reform in opposition rarely translates into action for change when in government. The Green Party offers the latest testimony to this thesis.
Public cynicism about politics and politicians has increased thanks in large measure to a decade of tribunal hearings that have eroded trust. Other factors - such as the pay, performance and productivity of Oireachtas members - have contributed too. TDs are now better paid than their peers at Westminster or those in most European assemblies. The Irish parliamentary year is shorter than that in other parliaments and the TD's role as legislator is a good deal less demanding.
The best way to bridge the gap between the elected and their electors is not by more Oireachtas family days at Leinster House, which turn the national parliament into a folk park, albeit for a weekend. But it is for more sitting days and for a fundamental reform of Dáil procedures. Ireland is facing major problems on Europe and on the economy. To adjourn the Dáil for a close on three-month recess, given the nature and scale of those challenges, is the height of folly.