There should be a relaxation of the "absolutist whipping arrangements" that apply in the Dail, according to the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell.
Speaking at the Cobh and Harbour Chamber of Commerce at the weekend, Mr McDowell said a vote against a party brought automatic expulsion for the TD concerned, and there was no tradition of allowing free votes on certain issues. He said the existing system was not conducive to political accountability.
"One inevitable consequence of a rigid omnipresent whip is a reduction in the apparent dignity and value accorded by society to individual politicians," he said.
"At a time when public opinion seems cynical and sceptical about politicians, part of the remedy may lie in the way politicians treat each other."
Mr McDowell also urged statutory financial autonomy for each House of the Oireachtas, so that they, and their various committees, would not be dependent for resources on the government of the day.
This could bring about a new era of parliamentary advisers and researchers. At the moment parliamentarians are dependent on non-neutral information provided by well resourced interest groups.
He said that the recent examination of the DIRT issue by the Public Accounts Committee showed the potential of properly run Oireachtas committees to secure real democratic accountability.
The present legislation on the subject was more conservative than many ordinary members of the Oireachtas would choose, he said.
Mr McDowell advocated a much greater role for the Oireachtas in scrutinising European legislation. "EU legislation is almost exclusively the prerogative of the executive with minimal parliamentary output or accountability."
These issues were at least as important as electoral reform or the remuneration of elected representatives, he said.