Taking us all for fools

I resent being taken for a complete fool. They tell us the changes in constituency boundaries are about the biggest since the State was founded. They also want us to believe we are witnessing dramatic reforms in the whole electoral system.

 

Sure they want us to believe everything they tell us. However, they told us one thing before the General Election and now they are telling us the very opposite. I have got to the stage that I believe nothing they tell us.

I am not just talking about the economy, which we all know they haven’t the faintest idea how to get sorted out. I am talking about the reforms in the electoral system they promised before the election and in their programme for Government.

I had the idea they were going to reduce the number of TDs by 20 seats. I criticised that plan at the time and I said that reducing the number of TDs from 166 to 146 was not going far enough. I pointed out that this was only tinkering with the problem.

I have always maintained what we need is a meaningful reduction in the number of deputies we elect to Dáil Éireann. I have consistently argued that the Dáil would probably function better if there were far fewer TDs in the House.

I believe if we had 100 TDs rather than 166, we would have a better Dáil. Actually I believe we should go further and halve the number of TDs in that privileged institution. I believe a Dáil comprising of 80 deputies would be far more efficient than the present cumbersome and unwieldy total.

What did they come up with? A reduction of eight. That’s what they are proposing. Instead of reducing their numbers to a manageable and efficient 100 or 80 members, they plan to cut down from 166 to 158. Where’s the reform there? They think we are complete fools if they believe we can be fobbed off with a tiny reduction of eight members.

Why not let the people themselves decide? Because they know the people would almost certainly support the idea of a much leaner Dáil. Actually, the people might even call for the complete abolition of the Dáil if given a say in the matter.

People are so fed up with politicians from all the parties and their complete inability to handle any problem, that the people might just decide to take a cue from Shakespeare and say “a plague on all your houses” and vote them all out of office, if that were possible.

Anyway, it could be argued the Dáil is now just a glorified county council. Our public spending and taxation plans have now to be ratified by our real lords and masters in Brussels and Frankfurt. Details of our annual budget are given to the German members of the Bundestag before members of Dáil Éireann get to hear about them.

They made a big song and dance in the powerless corridors of Leinster House last week over the fact they were going to have eight fewer TDs come the next Dáil. They were also more concerned about new boundary changes than they were about the economic crisis. Their priorities centred on the number of votes they might lose or gain at the next election.

What do the people of Clare or Dublin or Cork care if a little biteen of Leitrim is loaned to Roscommon or if the people of Castlepollard will be voting in the same constituency as the people of Ballivor?

What we are worried about is will we have enough to pay the ESB bill. Will that 12-year-old Ford Fiesta survive another year on the road? Will Mary or Seán have to emigrate to get a job? People cannot afford to go to the doctor or to the dentist. They cannot afford to buy a new pair of shoes. They are in serious arrears with their mortgages.

Yet we have TDs in the Dáil jumping around the place because of some changes to constituency boundaries. I wish they would get real and concentrate their minds on solving the issues driving a lot of people to despair and even to suicide.

The politicians must know about the anger out there. The vast majority of TDs must be intelligent people to get themselves elected to office in the first place. They are meeting people when they come down from Dublin at the weekend and during their long holidays from the Dáil.

The people they meet are telling them about their suffering. The TDs nod their heads, agree with their constituents that life is terrible and promise to raise whatever problem there is with the relevant minister.
They might even put down a parliamentary question for written or oral reply from the minister. Forward that reply to the constituent or even to the local paper, just to show that they are working hard in the Dáil for their constituents.

Everybody is happy but Mary or Seán still have to emigrate to Australia. That old Ford he cannot afford to tax still clatters and bangs down the road to the shop and the fear of eviction still hangs over his head.
However, the TD is more worried about losing a pocket of votes to the neighbouring constituency.
You cannot really blame them either. Their job is also on the line. They doesn’t want to see Mary or Seán emigrate. They might have been supporters.

So much for reform of the Dáil. Now how about the Seanad? They have promised us they are not merely going to reform the Upper House. It’s down for demolition. That pledge is so specific that I cannot see how they are going to renege from it. But if there’s a will, they will find a way.

I heard during the week that Labour senators are mobilising a campaign against the abolition of the Seanad and they are getting support from the Fine Gael senators.

We’ll have a bit of fun during the silly season ahead watching how Enda and Eamon wiggle themselves out of that one.