Sir, - Seamus Brennan, the Government Chief Whip, has recently proposed a raft of improvements for Dail Eireann. These are fine as far as they go, but in my opinion the most important improvement is not among them. I refer to a possible mechanism to help decide whether prospective candidates for election to Dail Eireann are indeed fit persons to be elected to our legislature.
The proverbial housewife with eyes closed, needle in hand, and about to puncture the newspaper to pick the winner of the Grand National, knows that all of the declared horses have already been vetted. If horses can be vetted, why can prospective TDs not be vetted?
Such scrutiny already exists in Irish society. For instance, the Civil Service Commission operates such a system in recruiting personnel for the public service. A candidate who has all the required qualifications, has passed the required examinations, written and oral, and who is the chosen and preferred candidate of the interview board is not then appointed. He or she is finally subject to clearance and scrutiny by the Garda Siochana. This is to ensure that personnel recruited are not fraudsters, conmen (or conwomen), tax dodgers or criminals.
A Commission headed by a High Court Judge could possibly undertake such a role in respect of prospective candidates for Dail Eireann. This should have the support of the main parties, whose politicians have been seriously diminished by those TDs who have abused the system. If it requires a change in the Constitution, so be it.
In democracy, why should the electorate be forced to pick a pig in a poke? Recent disclosures indicate that some form of filtering is imperative. - Yours, etc.,
Micheal O Nuallain, Monkstown, Co Dublin.