System gives us distracted TDs, says Dempsey

POLITICIANS DO not scrutinise State and semi-State organisations enough, Minister for Transport Noel Dempsey has told a seminar on the electoral system.

Mr Dempsey warned against public representatives getting distracted from their national function by “constant clientelism”, when he addressed the event hosted by the Parliamentary Society of former Oireachtas members. “Our State and semi-State organisations are not scrutinised nearly enough . . . particularly in relation to their service delivery to citizens,” he said.

The Minister said Ireland’s electoral system made it inevitable that TDs would “betray their calling” when re-election was a priority. “Any time a public representative abandons their own judgment to serve as the representative of a lobby group or objective they don’t actually believe in, they’re betraying their calling.”

Founder of the Progressive Democrats Des O’Malley said the formation of new political parties was an essential component of a dynamic democratic system. If it became difficult to start and maintain new parties, democracy in a country would decline. The real impediment to the emergence and survival of new parties was the dispersion of public funds, which was based almost entirely on past electoral performance.

“This means that it is very difficult, indeed almost impossible, for a new party to break through in electoral terms,” said Mr O’Malley. “This is a disgraceful manipulation of public funds in favour of . . . the somewhat stifling incumbency,” he said, adding that he wished someone would set up a new party.

Former president of the European Parliament Pat Cox said the Republic, which was now experiencing its third major economic and social “catastrophe” since the 1950s, was failing its people.

A preference for short-term pragmatism over long-term vision had led to this, Mr Cox said.

“We may need a new electoral system . . . but I would argue that it should be part of a wider and deeper project . . . what we need is a new Republic.”

Former Fianna Fáil TD Jim Glennon offered a humorous reflection on the life of a backbench deputy. As a rugby player, he said he always knew who he was supposed to be marking before a match. “But it was only when I went into politics that the concept of marking a man at a funeral surfaced.” Glennon said there was a “funeral culture” among politicians which had left him with a sense of “self-disgust”.