The British House of Commons preserves the amiable charade of dragging a newly elected Speaker physically into the chair to commemorate the days when the spokesman for Parliament ran the risk of imprisonment or worse at the hands of the King. It is not one of the parliamentary traditions that was adopted by the Oireachtas when this State became independent. Yet, when stripped of its layers of formality and tradition, the practice underlines an important reality: the independence of the Chair from government, and its role as the embodiment of the House and the rights of its members.
These are among the functions of the Ceann Comhairle of Dail Eireann. The convention by which TDs elect their presiding officer before voting for the Taoiseach, was devised to insulate the office, as far as possible, from the worst influences of political horse trading. The holder has the privileges of a Minister with the valuable additional right to be returned automatically to the Dail without having to be re elected, and although the choice of candidates has never been free from political calculation, those who become Ceann Comhairle have maintained a high standard of integrity and independence. This has been helped by the fact that in practice they have not normally come from the ranks of potential or former Ministers. (Mr Sean Treacy was Labour spokesman on a number of topics when he was an Opposition backbencher.)
No one can be in any doubt why the Government wants to change the rules. The current procedure ensures that no one who expects to become a Minister in an ensuing Government is likely to put his or her name forward as Ceann Comhairle. If the election is deferred until after the Government is formed, then the office can become a kind of consolation prize for a TD who hasn't otherwise qualified for a Merc. The emasculating effect as far as the office is concerned will be much the same as has been produced by providing for the dissolution of the Senate simultaneously with the Dail, and holding its election later so that failed party candidates can have a second chance.
This has not been good for the Senate as a second chamber, and it would not be good for the office of Ceann Comhairle. It is only necessary to think of the tortuous bargaining that went on before the current Coalition was formed to see the implications for the Chair. In order to accommodate Democratic Left, an additional Ministerial office was created for Mr Pat Rabbitte by an ingenious deformation of the spirit of the Constitution. If this had been a post electoral situation and the office of Ceann Comhairle had been available, it would, of course, have provided an ideal solution for the three parties in their dilemma. But the fine line between the Government and the presiding officer of the House, in such an event, would have been invisible to the naked eye because the Ceann Comhairle would be a Minister in all but name.
Constitutional objections are likely to be raised. "The Ceann Comhairle has a role that could lead the holder to overrule the Government on occasion; and in the event of the absence or incapacity of the President, acts with the Chief Justice and the Cathaoirleach of the Senate as a presidential commission. These are not trivial considerations, but are part of the necessary separation of powers in a democracy.