Reliable old Oireachtas ways at heart of new politics

Leinster House adjourned for the summer recess on Thursday after a deflating start to the 32nd Dáil.

The TDs and their colleagues in the Seanad have a break of 9½ weeks to assess what they have managed to achieve over the last 11½ weeks. Not that that will take long. A minimal amount of legislation passed through both Houses, just one Oireachtas committee fully functioning and not a single decision made.

Just eight Acts have been passed through the Dáil and the Seanad, most of which were carried over from the last term.

The only new piece of legislation passed through the Houses was an amendment to the Water Services Bill to allow for the suspension of water charges for nine months.

That means the only concrete decision made has been to implement the decision to delay a decision.

It should also be noted not one of those eight Acts have been signed into law by the President.

Only one committee – the Public Accounts Committee – is fully up and running.

Senators were only appointed to committees on Thursday, meaning only the select committees have met.

The only functioning part of the Oireachtas is barely functioning.

That’s new politics though where we seem to talk about everything and achieve nothing.

Longer hours, more debate – but really more of the same, just said by a few more people.

The break will surely give the politicians time to ponder some other great mysteries about new politics.

For example, do we need to have a committee meeting every week to decide the running of the Dáil, while another one meets across the corridor to decide how to reform the workings of the same chamber?

Or whether it makes any sense whatsoever to group votes on a Thursday afternoon, leaving TDs stuck in the chamber for an 90 minutes, but free to avoid the Dáil for the other 2½ days?

Or whether we need pre-legislative and post-legislative scrutiny? It is the equivalent of having pre- and post reviews of your dinner. Surely both are further obstacles to getting legislation passed.

It has been a pretty dismal and unproductive term by all accounts. No decision of consequence made in a Dáil term dominated by the discussion, rather than implementation, of new politics.

One senior official admitted there is a fear on the Government corridors of progressing legislation for fear it may be amended beyond their control or defeated in the House.

“We can’t push forward with any real significant policy without seeking the consent of the Independent TDs and then once we have crossed the bridge we have to look for the support of Fianna Fáil.

“So there is a reluctance to do anything unnecessary, extraordinary or in anyway controversial.”

Workers rights

New politics really means no decisions. All those that require action kicked to touch including impending bin charges, the eighth amendment, water charges, a potential commission of investigation into the National Asset Management agency and workers rights.

The Government can feel quite content it is sailing into the summer having dodged all controversies by inviting the kitchen sink to the ministerial corridor for consensus meetings.

Fianna Fáil can go quietly into the break having managed to fool people into thinking they are an opposition party who quietly hold the power for the Government’s purse strings.

The Independent Alliance and other Independent Ministers will be thanking their lucky stars voters haven’t yet realised they are part of Government.

The difficulty in the long term is that the lines between Government and opposition have become blurred.

Most of us will be happy to see the back of a weak, ineffective and barely functional Dáil.

It is too early to determine whether this Dáil will achieve anything of substance or collapse before our eyes.

There are some things to praise about new politics. For the first time opposition TDs can influence legislation and TDs from across the House can progress their own Bills.

September will bring the first real test of new politics when the cross-party budgetary committee sits to discuss the upcoming budget.

Only then will we be in a position to cast judgment.

Maybe our TDs and Senators just the need 9½ weeks to settle into it.