More financial and administrative independence for the Dail and Seanad are proposed in a Government discussion document published by the Government Chief Whip, Mr Seamus Brennan, yesterday.
One of the proposals is a new current issues time, which would make greater provision for the raising of current issues of national importance.
Mr Brennan said the changes were necessary because the Dail was "dying on its feet". "The issues can be raised without notice and will be answered by the Minister responsible or by the Taoiseach if the matter raised is within his or her responsibility."
Under the present system, matters of national relevance raised on the Order of Business are often tenuously linked to a piece of legislation.
Mr Brennan said the document, A Dail for a New Millennium, was the "most radical reappraisal of the workings of the Dail parliamentary system since the foundation of the State. The Government is seeking all-party support.
"The Irish people have every right to be proud of their parliamentary system which has served them well over the decades, but no parliamentary system can be frozen in time." He said the proposals were an opportunity to increase the relevance and effectiveness of the Oireachtas by way of reform of its "undoubtedly outmoded" procedures and practices.
A new citizens' petition mechanism, which would be a direct appeal system, is proposed to allow for specific issues of public interest and concern to be debated. The petition would require not fewer than 10,000 signatures calling for a debate on a major policy issue.
The Ceann Comhairle would decide whether to allow a one-hour debate within three months of a petition being received. One such debate would be available each sitting month and in each debate the relevant Minister would respond formally in the Dail.
Under proposals from the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, an independent Oireachtas commission would be established with responsibility for funding, staffing and the organisation of the Dail and Seanad.
These would underline the independence of both and ensure that "adequate dedicated financial resources" were available to support an increasingly dynamic committee system.
The permanent extension of Dail sitting times is proposed and changes in the way in which ail business is scheduled are advocated. "The Government is conscious of the many pressures on deputies in attending to Dail business and in servicing their constituencies.
"While appreciating the need for a balance which would enable deputies to adequately discharge all of these responsibilities, they nevertheless believe the increasing complexities of parliamentary business require the proposed changes."
If introduced, TDs would sit for 96 hours a month, an increase on average of 10 hours. The Dail would sit for three weeks in the month and the fourth week would be set aside as a committee week.
Mr Brennan appealed to all Dail parties to participate in designing the framework ail "that will reflect modern demands and increase accountability". Consultations would take place with party leaders and the document would also be considered by the Standing Sub-Committee on Dail Reform. He expected most of the reforms would come into effect on an experimental basis by next spring.
The Fine Gael Chief Whip, Mr Charles Flanagan, criticised aspects of the proposals, saying they would do little to allay the widespread criticism which already existed. The document fell far short of the radical reform package published by his own party, "A Democratic Revolution", he said. "Dail reform will have little impact unless accompanied by a statute of parliament, a management committee, a reformed ceann comhairle, adequate and proper resourcing of members and researchers, proper staffing and a law recognising and regulating political parties."
Proposals for more spontaneous debate were welcome but there was need to ensure that the Taoiseach and Ministers could be adequately scrutinised.