Enda Kenny set to present proposals for reform

Fine Gael is to bring forward a fresh package of proposals for political reform as part of its efforts to win support for a government led by Taoiseach Enda Kenny.

Mr Kenny accepted yesterday that “no one will be elected taoiseach” when the new Dáil meets on Thursday.

Mr Kenny and four senior Fine Gael colleagues – Frances Fitzgerald, Simon Coveney, Leo Varadkar and Simon Harris – are due to have meetings with Independents and smaller party TDs today.

They will meet the Social Democrats, members of the Independent Alliance and Independent TDs Maureen O'Sullivan and Katherine Zappone.

Mr Kenny is expected to commit to a loosening of the whip system, but not on economic issues. He will also propose an end to applying the guillotine to legislation going through the Oireachtas.

A Fine Gael spokesman said Mr Kenny was leading these contacts with the “full support of the parliamentary party”.

The Independent Alliance met Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin yesterday as part of a series of talks involving all parties. A key demand of theirs is the relaxation of the whip system on all issues, a proposal unlikely to be accepted by Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil.