Newly elected Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin has today called for major political reform.
Beginning his first day as party leader following his electoral success yesterday, Mr Martin said "the time had come has come when we should open up government to expertise from outside".
Speaking on Newstalk FM this morning, Mr Martin said: "Our governmental system has failed and it's failed in many ways.
"Any parliament that doesn't debate the banking system until it actually collapses is a failed parliament," he added.
Mr Martin suggested it was time to allow experts from outside the current political system to play a part in strategy.
"I think we should have a single seat PR system, and I do not favour the continuation of the existing multi-seat system," he said.
"I'm open to discussions with other political parties in terms of designing a new electoral system and significant Dáil reform as well."
Unlike the Labour Party, which has called for the abolition of the Seanad, Mr Martin indicated a preference for reform. "The Seanad has spent its entire existence trying to justify its existence," he said.
"The present Seanad is untenable as we know it. I'm open to suggestions and ideas in terms of whether we have a directly elected Seanad, which world be charged with specific tasks around Europe or around constitutional change.
"I think we have to separate more the parliament from the government. By that I mean the parliament has to become stronger - a bit like the American model - in terms of a stronger parliament which has the power to initiate legislation and which can challenge the executive more," he said.
Mr Martin, who is expected to name his director of elections shortly, admitted Fianna Fáil had "a problem" in the amount of candidates it has in different constituencies.
He also cited concerns with the list system used to select candidates because it could be seen "to create a certain degree of elitism".
Mr Martin also called for continued reform of the public service, particularly around issues such as recruitment and career progression. "We're not getting enough outside people into the public service quickly enough in areas of specific expertise."
Admitting he "was not a raging liberal or anything like that," Mr Martin refused to say whether he supported gay marriage, although he did back civil partnerships. He also said he was against abortion except under specific circumstances.
Mr Martin moved quickly yesterday to impose his leadership and set the tone for the Fianna Fáil election campaign. He convened a meeting of party TDs and Senators immediately setting out the urgency of the crisis facing the party.
At a press conference he accepted that Fianna Fáil faced immense difficulties. "We face the most challenging election Fianna Fáil has faced since its foundation," he said.
He also said he was prepared to dedicate "10 years of my life" to restore the party's fortunes. The dominant theme of his statement at the conference was the need for "real and serious debate".
"One of the ways in which politics has failed is that our elections have been dominated by sound bites, personality and political tactics. Our country needs an election which is as serious as the issues we must tackle," he said.
He said he would quickly choose a new deputy leader and front bench, as well as a director of elections. Party sources said the appointments could be made today and that a number of younger TDs would be promoted, some to portfolios which already had a party TD as Minister.
Mr Martin would not be drawn on how many seats the party could win under his leadership but said Fianna Fáil would wage an intense and energetic campaign that would prevent the election becoming "a coronation" for Fine Gael and Labour. "I can assure you that my party intends campaigning with energy and with fresh ideas," he said.
He also made a direct apology for the mistakes made by Fianna Fáil-led governments. "I am sorry for the mistakes we made as a party and for the mistakes I made," he said.
But he also said political parties had competed with each other during the last election over which would spend the most and which would lower taxes the most. "In that sense, we were all wrong," he said.