Sir, – Fintan O’Toole (Opinion Analysis, January 8th) makes vital points in relation to democratic scrutiny in the Dáil. His main concerns were the guillotining of legislation on personal insolvency, the abolition of democratic elections to Údarás na Gaeltachta and the imposition of property taxes without adequate scrutiny.
The Personal Insolvency Bill was debated at length in the Seanad and was amended 181 times in committee and 155 times at the report stage. The Minister was praised on all sides of the House for his willingness to move and accept amendments during debates.
The abolition of democratic elections to Údarás na Gaeltachta was strongly contested in the Seanad but the Minister and his officials were unmoved.
Abolishing the Gaeltacht elections saves minimal amounts of money. The elections could have been held with referendums, presidential elections or local elections. To deprive Gaeltacht communities of their local democracy was a major strike against the revival of Irish. If newspapers other than The Irish Times covered Seanad debates, there might have been more resistance to this pointless denial of local democracy.
The property tax was also debated in the Seanad, albeit within a time constraint. The Minister gave the House important information on valuation, protecting the family home and ability to pay.
The Seanad did seek to tackle the deficiencies noted by your correspondent. When a Government with a large Dáil majority, a rigid whip system in the Dáil, executive dominance of the legislature and a powerful permanent bureaucracy seeks to abolish the Seanad, the Fintan O’Toole article serves as a stark warning of the dangers of unicameralism. –Yours, etc,
Sir, – I want to compliment Fintan O’Toole for once again hitting the nail on the head. He was hard-hitting, incisive and factual. It is indeed a public disgrace the way Bills are on occasion rammed through the Dáil without proper debates taking place.
If Mr Kenny cannot see why we are cynical about our politicians, then it is time someone took him aside and explained it to him. The arrogance of our present Government is now on a par with that of our last government. – Yours, etc,