On the Adjournment: With the Oireachtas and Drapier on holidays, this column is being handed over to some of the newer and lesser-known backbenchers. This week Barry Andrews on the power of TDs
The growth in power and influence among supra-national and non-parliamentary bodies has led to perceptions of a gap between voters and the decision-making process, widely known as the "democratic deficit".
As an elected representative it is troubling to note the amount of power that has been devolved and how it has been allowed to develop unchecked.
It is worth considering where the true seats of power - in running the country - actually are. The following is a rough attempt to grade them in order: (a) capital markets; (b) the European Union; (c) the Government (not quite non-parliamentary, admittedly); (d) the Social Partners; (e) the World Trade Organisation; (f) the Civil Service; (g) the United Nations and (h) county managers. The role of Dáil Éireann trails in somewhere after these.
The responsibility for many decisions affecting our daily lives is moving away from national parliaments and towards unelected bureaucrats. For those who consider that governance is too important to allow for the meddling of mere politics, the rest of this article should be passed over.
To deal with some of the institutions in turn - the European Union has been the subject of some considerable reform in this area through the creation of the National Forum on Europe and Gay Mitchell's committee for scrutiny of EU legislation. Our several referendums have addressed that too. There were even whispered complaints during the last Nice referendum about a "democratic surplus".
However, changes proposed by the European Convention, such as an increase in qualified majority voting (the removal of member-states' veto) and the accession of 10 new member-states could widen the gulf between voters and decision-makers.
Strangely, there is little complaint about the UN. This is despite the fact that it is not an especially democratic organisation. Five countries enjoy permanent, unelected, veto-wielding membership of the Security Council and its resolutions have been routinely ignored by member-states over the last few years, the US being chief among cherry-pickers.
That there is so little complaint about this at home is surprising, considering the extent to which it has become axiomatic that much of our foreign policy is determined by what the UN says and does. Nevertheless, our recent membership of the Security Council could point to a country punching above its weight.
Most bile is reserved for the World Trade Organisation which is ironic given that each of the 145 members of the WTO has a veto (our membership is as part of an EU bloc). Nevertheless, there is a total lack of accountability and I had some sympathy for TDs who decried the lack of debate on the forthcoming ministerial conference at Cancun. I doubt if many people could identify the head of the WTO - his name, for the record, is Supachai Panitchpakdi.
So what of Dáil Éireann itself? There is a perception that what goes on in the Dáil is a waste of time and that despite the fact that TDs have a mandate equivalent to the highest-ranking Minister, their involvement in the legislative process in minimal.
The significance of backbenchers' "contributions" stands in almost comic contrast to the influence of the aforementioned institutions.
That this is so is evident from the failure of any media group to have reported anything I have ever said in Dáil Éireann. Even my own towering modesty rules out the possibility that I have never said anything of any note.
Correction: There was one occasion this newspaper reported on something I had said. I raised, on the adjournment, the issue of a loophole in the domestic violence legislation which had emerged in the District Court. The following day it was reported that Deputy Chris Andrews (the councillor for the Pembroke Ward in Dublin and a cousin) had raised the matter.
When a second stage debate (discussion of the principles of a Bill) is going on, backbenchers get an opportunity to rack up speaking time. This can be useful when the newspapers do a league table based on minutes contributed. So long as you are safely in mid-table, all is well. Without trying to sound too humble and confessional, this is a practice into which we are probably all tempted. On one occasion, with about four people in the chamber, I noticed that not a single person was listening to me. Everyone was occupied with some little chat or other. I stopped and turned to the person beside me and giggled. I realised I was talking to the stenographer.
I would like to see a chamber in which members would not be stuck rigidly to party policy. There is no doubt in my mind that members of the public would be more engaged by debate that was less partisan. John Deasy's vote against his own party recently was less remarked upon for the issue involved than for the fact of breaking the whip.
Robin Cook MP, launching reform in Westminster, said: "We need to be less tribal and more individualistic in our approach to political debate. There should be more space to allow backbenchers to respond to events as human beings rather than as programmed politicians. In the consumerist and lifestyle age which younger voters inhabit, respect goes to personalised responses rather than party mantras."
Fortunately, a reform process is already under way in Dáil Éireann and it is hoped that the reforms suggested by Séamus Brennan in his report in November 2000 will be acted upon. Particularly welcome would be a suggestion that a commencement debate would replace the adjournment debate and take place in the mornings rather than after 10 p.m.
I would also welcome more sociable and family-friendly hours for Dáil business. Debates and votes at 9 p.m. may contribute to the low number of women in Dáil Éireann.
If backbench TDs aren't to be perceived as a barely tolerated inconvenience, real reform is required. It might well be that for all the supra-national and non-parliamentary bodies that influence governance, the biggest democratic deficit may be sitting at our own doorstep.
- Barry Andrews is Fianna Fáil TD for Dún Laoghaire.
- Next week: Damien English TD (FG, Meath)