Reform of the Dail is a perennial project that most governments subscribe to but few engage with. Resistance to change by both ministers and backbenchers has created a situation where the power of the Executive is overwhelming and parliamentary accountability is a pale shadow of what it might be. The roots of this unbalanced relationship between the Cabinet and Oireachtas members are to be found in the Constitution but, in a modern society, the need for accountability at the highest political level can only be ensured through emphasising the role and responsibilities of ordinary elected members.
The Dail Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has been the main conduit of change in recent years. Hand-in-hand with its report on the DIRT evasion scandal went recommendations for extensive Oireachtas reform that would help to balance the power of the Executive through the strengthening of Dail and Seanad Committees. The public standing of the PAC was so great at the time that the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, gave a guarded welcome to the report. Since then, a number of changes have been made, including the appointment of an Oireachtas Law Agent to advise committees. But the bulk of the reforms remain to be implemented, especially in relation to the appointment of an Oireachtas Commission. Sixteen months ago, the PAC recommended the establishment of an independent, permanent, Oireachtas Commission under the control of the Ceann Comhairle to oversee the funding, staff and organisation of the Houses of the Oireachtas. Funding for the Oireachtas Commission would not be subjected to veto by the government of the day or by the Department of Finance but would be proposed directly to the Dail by the Ceann Comhairle. A reformed Committee system would be paid for from this funding vote. Mr McCreevy is said to have agreed in principle to these proposals, but discussions on details have been dragging on at both official and political level.
The PAC also suggested that Committees should be allowed to appoint Parliamentary Inspectors, with the powers of High Court Inspectors, to carry out investigations. At the same time, they should be granted a Right of Initiative to propose a formal inquiry. And they should be empowered to examine the chairmen and chief executives of State companies where the Minister concerned was not accountable for operational decisions.
The Committee system is slowly evolving into an alternative source of real political power and influence for Government backbenchers and for opposition TDs. That growth was given considerable impetus by the effective way in which the PAC conducted the DIRT inquiry in 1999. These changes make it all the more important for the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey, to press ahead with legislation to put an end to double jobbing at local authority and Oireachtas level. The Dail sits for three days a week because some of its members wish to attend county council meetings on Mondays and to conduct constituency business on Fridays. TDs and Senators are expected by the electorate to look after their interests. But they should not have to attend council meetings to do so.