Madam, - A front-page report in Monday's edition detailed, in effect, how the Taoiseach intends to be less accountable than ever for his actions to the Dáil. This supports very nicely the points made by Vincent Browne in his column last week.
My only quarrel with Mr Browne is that his analysis of the performance of Government TDs was neither wide nor deep enough. The issues go back to the inception of the State, when we inherited a strong parliamentary whip system from the British, rather than the weak whip system of, say, the US.
This enables all governments to act as the FF/PD Coalition does at present, with most Government TDs echoing WS Gilbert's observation: "I always voted at my party's call, I never thought of thinking for myself at all". - Yours, etc,
JOHN R BAILEY, Cowper Downs, Rathmines, Dublin 6.