Progress in politics can often be measured in inches. In December 1990, the Barrington Report recommended that Oireachtas members should be prohibited from sitting on local councils, writes Mark Hennessy
Last Wednesday, legislation providing for this passed its Second Stage debate in the Dáil, and all remaining stages should be completed by the end of the May. Like much else done by the Government during the last Dáil session, when many of the 15 Bills passed were put through under a guillotine, the legislation was rushed along.
And for very good reason, too, from the Government's point of view. The local elections are scheduled for mid-2004. And President Mary McAleese may refer the Bill to the Supreme Court so that its constitutionality can be tested.
Fianna Fáil wants to ensure that the court's timetable does not interfere with its plans to get TDs and Senators off councils and replaced by candidates who can bed down and win. Some 52 Fianna Fáil parliamentary party members sit on local authorities. So far, they have gone along with the plans of the Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, though a large number do so only reluctantly. In return, he has promised regulations to ensure that they will be kept informed by councils, as a matter of right, about issues in their local bailiwicks, the meat and drink of any politician.
So far, there is no sign of the regulations, and the devil, as always, will be in the detail. Often rightly a suspicious bunch, politicians are taking a lot on trust.
Furthermore, they have been given cute nods that they will be able to ensure that supporters take their place on local tickets, or that, at least, it will be by someone who will not be a threat.
However, matters are unlikely to work out in such a neat fashion. The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, wants the dual-mandate ban to bring forward fresh new candidates.
In time, the ban will cost some TDs their seats. Bertie Ahern will not care very much as long as his overall numbers stay up. Neither will the public. But the TDs will.
Opponents of the dual-mandate ban believe that TDs and Senators can perform at national and local levels, pointing out that most other councillors also have full-time jobs.
With some justification, they argue that they are the ones with the experience and profile to face down council management, who can often behave in a dictatorial fashion.
Nevertheless, TDs will have more time for national issues if they do not have to attend Monday council meetings and the plethora of other committees now spawned by local authorities.
Following the abolition of the dual mandate, the Dáil will have no excuse for not sitting more often. So far in 2002, it has sat in plenary session on just 32 occasions.
Between 1997 and 2001, the Dáil sat for between 81 and 94 days, not including committee days. The House of Commons, by comparison, sat for 160 days. The Danish Folketing sat for 130.
The question is what will TDs do with all this extra time.
Usually, political correspondents bemoan the failure of national politicians to act as such, as we witness often painfully ill-informed remarks on major issues.
And we are right to do so. But voters do not agree. TDs have lost votes for not sorting out complaints about potholes. No TD ever lost a vote because he was ignorant of the nuances of the EU's Growth and Stability Pact.
The only problem for political correspondents is that we are more often interested in the politics of personality than the intricacies of the legislative process.
And the process can be mind-numbingly dull, though important. If given more time, backbenchers of all parties must also be given a greater role.
Frequently, backbenchers have as much influence over the Government's policy as any of us have over the weather that we will enjoy this Easter Bank Holiday weekend.
But it does not have to be so, as was proved by the DIRT inquiry and might have been proved by the Abbeylara inquiry before it was castrated by the courts.
Oireachtas committees can and should be a major force in Irish public life, putting pressure on the Cabinet and holding public institutions of all hues to account. But this will require greater resources. And it will require greater study by TDs, who have a tendency to waffle.
In theory, the ending of the dual mandate is the right thing to do. But reducing the involvement of TDs at local level will only be justified if national political debate moves up a scale.
The Taoiseach knows that his Fianna Fáil backbenchers will need to be occupied, if they are not to direct their knives at him. The devil makes work for idle hands.