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Saturday 9 December 2023 Dublin: 9°C

# Political Reform

All time
We're being short-changed by the 'other referendum'
The presidential age referendum is a watered-down version of attempts at real political reform.
Column: So, you've made it into government? Here's how to avoid a democratic revolution
Congratulations, you’ve been elected! Luckily you can avoid living up to any promises you’ve made – just follow this guide.
Opinion: The Government's pretence about reform fell away at the first genuine challenge
The response to the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention on political reform reveals the truth about the Government’s attitude to democracy.
Fine Gael TD: Why I got really pissed off at the government
Eoghan Muphy talked parliamentary reform in a wide-ranging interview with TheJournal.ie this week.
There will be no change to the 'ludicrous situation' where absent TDs means unanswered questions
TDs have complained that there is a false impression being created that politicians are not at work because they are absent from the Dáil chamber.
The Green Party are meeting today and they're going big on political reform
One proposal would see TDs serve a maximum of two consecutive terms in the Dáil.
Fine Gael chair: This government needs to implement dynamic political reform
Over the past three years the Government has been completely focused on job creation, but there must also be a programme of real political reform, writes Charlie Flanagan TD.
Dáil over: TDs finish early for the week after ‘opposition fail to show’
Day’s over…
Sinn Féin wants seven-seat Dáil constituencies and use of PPS numbers for electoral register
The party has outlined a set of radical political reforms which will have little chance of being implemented by the current government.
Column: Irish Water set-up is repeating the mistakes of the HSE
No real savings can now be made for 12 years in Irish Water, while we create a duplicate of the existing arrangements and also set up an expensive new central agency to boot, writes Eamon Ryan.
TDs will be allowed to register their abstention on Dáil votes
Rather than vote Yes or No, a deputy will be able to officially abstain from a vote on a piece of legislation or a motion under changes likely to be implemented later this year.
'The elephant in the room': Government's Dáil reforms do little to appease opposition
It’s no surprise that the opposition doesn’t think the government has done enough Dáil reform, but TDs think that even some changes that have been introduced aren’t working.
Committee chairs have 'serious concerns' over workload and say they need more staff
A letter from the chairpersons of the Oireachtas committees to the Ceann Comhairle has raised “serious concerns” about the workloads faced in 2014 as a result of the plans to scrutinise legislation before it comes before the Dáil.
Political standards watchdog cannot fulfill duties because of appointments delay
SIPO is also in the middle of a disagreement with Minister Hogan about proposed accounting reforms for political parties.
Absent TDs and unanswered questions leave Micheál Martin criticising Dáil reforms
Changes to the question time have been criticised but the government chief whip has defended the new format following near-farcical scenes in the chamber on Thursday.
Leo Varadkar: The government has too much control over the Dáil
The Transport Minister was frank about the government’s control of the legislature in the Dáil this afternoon.
TDs will sit earlier and for longer from this week
Under changes taking effect this week Leaders’ Questions move to midday on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Enda Kenny tells the Seanad: ‘I come in peace, not in war’
“Well, I come in peace, not in war,” Kenny told members in the upper house this afternoon.
TDs and Senators who lose their seats could face court action over unspent allowances
A new bill published yesterday will ensure that unspent allowances from TDs and Senators are repaid for the first time.
New law will abolish ministerial severance payments and cut politicians’ allowances
The government has published the Oireachtas Ministerial and Parliamentary Offices Amendment Bill 2013 today which will deal with the controversial party leaders’ allowance.
From overhanging trees to pensions: Why the Oireachtas petitions committee is important
For the first time in the 93-year history of the Oireachtas, citizens now have a direct route to influence the parliamentary agenda through the Petitions Committee, writes its chairman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn.
"One cannot have instability": Taoiseach rules out loosening the party whip
Fine Gael backbenchers quizzed the Taoiseach on political reform in the Dáil last night.
Reform Alliance seeks debate and wants directly elected Seanad
One of their members Denis Naughten TD also says that “there might have been a different result on Saturday had the Dáil had been reformed first.”
Here's how the Dáil will pass legislation if the Seanad is abolished
Committees would be radically overhauled and given the task of scrutinising legislation to an even greater degree under the government’s reform plans.
'Bogus' and 'populist': The opposition's take on Dáil reform plan
Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Green Party have rounded on Enda Kenny’s proposals to lengthen Dáil sittings and beef up the pre-legislative processes.
Government pledges that TDs will sit earlier and for longer
The Dáil will start earlier on a Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays than it currently does and Friday sittings will be every two weeks instead of every month as is the case at present under government proposals outlined today.
Government chief whip will look at allowing free votes after next election
Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe has hinted at possible changes to the strict party whip system as the coalition will today launch its plans for Dáil reform.
Government rules out Fine Gael rebels’ bid to form second Dáil technical group
The government chief whip has told TheJournal.ie that the coalition has no plans to amend Dáil standing orders as some Fine Gael TDs and senators outside of the Fine Gael parliamentary party are seeking to do.
Fine Gael: There’s no ‘secret report’ which convinced Taoiseach to abolish Seanad
The party has said the proposal to abolish the Seanad came from a New Politics document published in March 2010, six months after Enda Kenny first called for the chamber to be scrapped.
Fianna Fáil proposes referendum to reduce government control of Dáil agenda
The opposition party released a policy discussion document this week which proposes a raft of reforms to the way the Irish parliament does business.
Martin: Taoiseach's political reform claims are 'transparently ridiculous'
Micheál Martin has proposed a series of radical reforms if Fianna Fáil was in government at the MacGill Summer School in the Glenties tonight.
Video: Shane Ross says the Seanad should be 'burned at the stake'
But the independent TD and several of his colleagues want the upper house reformed and hopes to get support from Labour and Fine Gael TDs this week.
Hogan appoints five-member panel to oversee Seanad referendum
The Referendum Commission will be chaired by Justice Elizabeth Dunne, whenever the Oireachtas passes the referendum bill.
Explainer: What else will change if we scrap the Seanad?
The formal legislation to change the Constitution and delete the Seanad is out today. So what’s in it?
McDowell: There are no muppets in the Seanad, but there are clowns in the Dáil
Former Tánaiste Michael McDowell is arguing for the retention and the reform of the Seanad.
Minister: 'We are not abolishing the Seanad'
Abolition of the upper house will be a decision for the Irish people, the Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney said this morning.
Government announces Dáil reform plans if Seanad is scrapped
A referendum to overhaul the Oireachtas and abolish the Seanad is planned for early October.
The system for electing TDs could be about to face a massive overhaul
The 100-member Constitutional Convention has voted to investigate “an entirely new electoral system” for picking TDs.
Free vote for TDs among radical proposals for Dáil reform
Goverment TDs should be allowed to vote against their party on certain matters under proposals by backbench TD Eoghan Murphy in an internal document circulated among Fine Gael members this week.
Micheál Martin: I still keep in touch with Brian Cowen
The Fianna Fáil leader said he had a “good chat” with his predecessor at a recent funeral but neither Cowen nor Bertie Ahern have any input to party policy.