Madam, - I was disappointed, but not surprised, to read of the defeat of the private member's motion on autism in the Dáil last week. What was notable was Mary O'Rourke's stated public support for the proposal, before voting against it. This contradiction highlights the parliamentary whip culture operated by the Government.
In the US, senators are allowed to diverge from the majority view of their chosen party and vote on the merits of a given bill using their own consciences. For example, Senator John McCain did not toe the Republican line on campaign finance reform. This allows Senators to compile a voting record which serves to define their politics.
Even in the British House of Commons, from which the Oireachtas takes many facets of its modus operandi, party whips can indicate the importance of an individual vote by informing MPs that the vote carries a one-line, two-line or three-line whip. A one-line whip would indicate that a free vote is possible, even though the party has an expressed policy position. UK voters then have the privilege of examining the voting record of their MP - for example, at the website http://www.publicwhip.org.uk.
I suggest that a similar practice should operate here. As an occasional visitor to the gallery of the Dáil, I find it very disheartening to hear perfectly reasonable Opposition motions which have little chance of being passed simply because they are not Government proposals. In particular, I believe that recent motions on Shannon and on autism could have been passed if such a practice had been in place. There is nothing admirable about a whip culture that suppresses the individual opinions of TDs. - Yours, etc,
JOHN KENNEDY, Knocknashee, Goatstown, Dublin 14.
Madam, - Mary O'Rourke's admission of voting against her conscience in the interests of the party says a lot about how this country is governed. The habit of putting politics before justice goes a long way towards explaining many of the ills besetting us today. The fact that it is now almost generally accepted as par for the course is even more distressing. Moral authority goes out the window, the country is left rudderless and a free-for-all follows.
We badly need politicians who put the welfare of the country first and politics in second place. - Yours, etc,
TED O'KEEFFE, Sandford Road, Dublin 6.