It is now eight years since the Dáil delivered any real drama to the nation.The occasion was the debate over the Father Brendan Smyth extradition case. At the end of it we had lost the Fianna Fáil/Labour government, and a political career, that of the taoiseach, Albert Reynolds.
The proceedings, if you remember, were covered live on television. People sat on the edge of their seats as the tánaiste, Dick Spring, got on his feet to say Labour was pulling the plug on the government. We were also treated to the famous statement from Pat Rabbitte about "events that would rock the foundations of the State".
Fast forward to 2002 and far from being a place known for its dramatic events, Dáil Éireann is dull most of the time. Of course one of the reasons for this is we have a lot more political stability today.
But as each year passes, the likelihood of any real business being done in the chamber is receding as the Government hides behind out-of-date procedures and protections that make a joke of the idea that there is true political accountability in the State's parliament.
It is not just proceedings that need a shake up but the standard of Dáil speeches, which are abysmal. There was a time when Dáil performance mattered and there was real sparring and debate. A TD with a flair for oratory was a joy to behold. Remember the powerful and colourful contributions from the likes of Michael Noonan and John Kelly years ago?
Today's Dáil speeches are flat. TDs and Ministers rarely stand up to speak without a script in their hands. In most cases, a civil servant or party backroom worker has written the script, and the deputy or Minister is often reading the speech for the first time when he or she gets on their feet. And it shows.
The result is that the media has turned off. The Dáil press gallery is empty except for the big occasion. Instead, political journalists are fed pages and pages of scripts and press releases every day by busy and over-eager press officers.
Take the two big Dáil set-pieces since the general election, both dealing with topics of vital importance to the State.
In September, the Dáil interrupted its holidays to debate the legislation for the Nice referendum. Despite the fact they were exhorting the importance of the treaty to the nation, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste weren't in the chamber for the first day of the debate.
Ministers and TDs from both sides of the house stood up, one after another, and droned on ad nauseum. The chamber was almost empty during the contributions with TDs appearing to recycle speeches ahead of the crucial vote on the referendum legislation.
Then we had the much heralded Flood report debate. This was flagged as a major showdown between the Government and the Opposition. As Jack Charlton's boys did in the heady days of Irish soccer in the 1980s, the Opposition was going to put Bertie under pressure. Blood was going to be spilled .
They came nowhere near it, mainly because the Taoiseach was able to hide behind procedures and refuse to take questions on why he appointed Ray Burke to his cabinet in 1997.
The debate opened and closed with barely a whimper. The nearest we came to a bit of excitement was when a rattled Bertie got cross with the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who was badgering him for not taking questions.
INSTEAD our politicians are making the news outside the Dáil chamber. Door-stepping Ministers, instead of reporting on Dáil proceedings, is the new trade of political journalists. It has been turned into an artform.
A door-stepping journalist can grill a politician and often get more out of a Minister than an Opposition politician in the Dáil, where the Ceann Comhairle keeps tight control and relishes telling TDs they are "out of order".
The need for Dáil reform is a hobbyhorse of one of the new political generation, Fine Gael TD for Waterford John Deasy. He is frustrated by the restrictions of the present system.
He lived in the US for several years and says we should look at the US House of Representatives where 60 elected politicians get one minute each to make a speech at the opening of business. This sets the agenda for the day and gets everybody involved.
We have been promised serious Dáil reform for years but alas are still waiting. A package of reform measures, which offers some hope of returning vibrancy and pace into the chamber, was unveiled earlier this year. But it got lost in the build- up to the general election. It will be interesting to see if the new Government Chief Whip, Mary Hanafin, will dig it out of the back of the drawer.
The main features are the introduction of electronic voting, a new "current issues time", which would allow for the raising without notice of issues of current national importance, and a time limit of six minutes on all parliamentary questions to allow for more questions to be answered.
The Government has a five-year term ahead of it, and has no excuse now for not replacing rhetoric with reform.