21 June 2001 Edition
U-turn on dual mandate ``a legislative farce'' - Ó Caoláin
BY MêCHEÁL MacDONNCHA
Hot on the heels of their defeat in the Nice referendum, the Fianna Fáil/PD government has made an ignominious retreat on a key piece of legislation after a revolt by the four government-supporting Independent TDs and by other backbenchers. The government's U-turn on its own proposal to end the dual mandate is its second major political embarrassment in a fortnight and was described by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin as a ``legislative farce''.
Environment and Local Government Minister Noel Dempsey last year published the Local Government Bill, which proposed to disqualify TDs and Senators from standing for local government election from 2004 onwards, thus ending the practice whereby many Oireachtas members also hold council seats. The Bill was not proceeded with because of opposition to the ending of the dual mandate from TDs Mildred Fox, Jackie Healy-Rae, Harry Blaney and Tom Gildea. But many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers were also against the proposal and last week the government announced that it was backing down and would amend its own bill to take out the offending sections.
Speaking in the Dáil on the Bill on 14 June, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said that the government's U-turn on the dual mandate was forced by the discontent of Fianna Fáil backbenchers as well as by the government-supporting Independents. He said:
``When drafting my remarks on this Bill last night, I intended to say that we were debating in the dark with a guillotine hanging over us. However, last night the government turned on the light and what we saw was not a pretty sight. There is nothing elegant about a political U-turn, even one that was this long coming. This was an inadequate Bill to start with, but with one of its principal innovations now gone, the ending of the dual mandate, it is as forlorn a piece of legislation as was ever placed before the Dáil. This long promised Bill was finally published on 4 May 2000, but it only came before the Dáil on 8 March this year. It was adjourned and is now back over a year since its publication.
``I assured the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, that I would support the ending of the dual mandate. He stated he did not have any intention of backing down on the issue. However, the entire Cabinet has now backed down. This is a legislative farce. I understand the Minister is unwell and wish him a speedy recovery. However, the Cabinet is clearly suffering from some form of viral infection and, regrettably, there is no immediately available antibiotic for Jackie Healy-Raeitis. The Cabinet's U-turn was forced not only by the four Independent Deputies who support the government but also by many Fianna Fáil backbenchers whose grumbling against this measure were less audible, but no less ominous.
``Having waited so long for the Bill we now find ourselves debating it with a guillotine hanging over us. This is a ridiculous way to conduct the business of the Dáil on any matter, let alone a Bill that deals with local government, an issue that goes to the heart of democracy. The Second Stage debate on this long, varied and detailed Bill has been restricted to less than a week and many Deputies have clearly not had the opportunity to speak. Given the long wait for publication of the Bill and the undue delay in bringing it before the House, this guillotine is totally unacceptable. As a member of the Select Committee on Environment and Local Government, I protest also at a similarly restricted time for Committee Stage.''
Ó Caoláin's description of the debacle as a ``legislative farce'' was borne out at the Environment and Local Government Committee this week when the government failed to bring forward its promised amendments to facilitate its retreat. Instead, it simply opposed the section of the Bill ending the dual mandate, leading to the bizarre situation where the opposition, including the Sinn Féin TD, voted for the government's original proposal while the government voted against.
The Sinn Féin TD has tabled 80 amendments to the Bill and debate on these at the Committee is continuing this week. Among the amendments proposed was to delete sections which would disqualify from local election prisoners serving a sentence of six months or people who fail to pay any sum owed to a local authority. Ó Caoláin compared this section to Margaret Thatcher's infamous `Bobby Sands Act', which prohibited prisoners from election. He said that many situations could arise such as people protesting against local authority charges and these people would now be disqualified if they refused to pay on principle or if they were imprisoned as a result of non-payment. He said that given Ireland's history of political imprisonment and prisoner elected representatives, this disqualification was unacceptable. The government majority on the Committee voted down the Sinn Féin amendment.
Hot on the heels of their defeat in the Nice referendum, the Fianna Fáil/PD government has made an ignominious retreat on a key piece of legislation after a revolt by the four government-supporting Independent TDs and by other backbenchers. The government's U-turn on its own proposal to end the dual mandate is its second major political embarrassment in a fortnight and was described by Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin as a ``legislative farce''.
Environment and Local Government Minister Noel Dempsey last year published the Local Government Bill, which proposed to disqualify TDs and Senators from standing for local government election from 2004 onwards, thus ending the practice whereby many Oireachtas members also hold council seats. The Bill was not proceeded with because of opposition to the ending of the dual mandate from TDs Mildred Fox, Jackie Healy-Rae, Harry Blaney and Tom Gildea. But many Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backbenchers were also against the proposal and last week the government announced that it was backing down and would amend its own bill to take out the offending sections.
Speaking in the Dáil on the Bill on 14 June, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin said that the government's U-turn on the dual mandate was forced by the discontent of Fianna Fáil backbenchers as well as by the government-supporting Independents. He said:
``When drafting my remarks on this Bill last night, I intended to say that we were debating in the dark with a guillotine hanging over us. However, last night the government turned on the light and what we saw was not a pretty sight. There is nothing elegant about a political U-turn, even one that was this long coming. This was an inadequate Bill to start with, but with one of its principal innovations now gone, the ending of the dual mandate, it is as forlorn a piece of legislation as was ever placed before the Dáil. This long promised Bill was finally published on 4 May 2000, but it only came before the Dáil on 8 March this year. It was adjourned and is now back over a year since its publication.
``I assured the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, Deputy Dempsey, that I would support the ending of the dual mandate. He stated he did not have any intention of backing down on the issue. However, the entire Cabinet has now backed down. This is a legislative farce. I understand the Minister is unwell and wish him a speedy recovery. However, the Cabinet is clearly suffering from some form of viral infection and, regrettably, there is no immediately available antibiotic for Jackie Healy-Raeitis. The Cabinet's U-turn was forced not only by the four Independent Deputies who support the government but also by many Fianna Fáil backbenchers whose grumbling against this measure were less audible, but no less ominous.
``Having waited so long for the Bill we now find ourselves debating it with a guillotine hanging over us. This is a ridiculous way to conduct the business of the Dáil on any matter, let alone a Bill that deals with local government, an issue that goes to the heart of democracy. The Second Stage debate on this long, varied and detailed Bill has been restricted to less than a week and many Deputies have clearly not had the opportunity to speak. Given the long wait for publication of the Bill and the undue delay in bringing it before the House, this guillotine is totally unacceptable. As a member of the Select Committee on Environment and Local Government, I protest also at a similarly restricted time for Committee Stage.''
Ó Caoláin's description of the debacle as a ``legislative farce'' was borne out at the Environment and Local Government Committee this week when the government failed to bring forward its promised amendments to facilitate its retreat. Instead, it simply opposed the section of the Bill ending the dual mandate, leading to the bizarre situation where the opposition, including the Sinn Féin TD, voted for the government's original proposal while the government voted against.
The Sinn Féin TD has tabled 80 amendments to the Bill and debate on these at the Committee is continuing this week. Among the amendments proposed was to delete sections which would disqualify from local election prisoners serving a sentence of six months or people who fail to pay any sum owed to a local authority. Ó Caoláin compared this section to Margaret Thatcher's infamous `Bobby Sands Act', which prohibited prisoners from election. He said that many situations could arise such as people protesting against local authority charges and these people would now be disqualified if they refused to pay on principle or if they were imprisoned as a result of non-payment. He said that given Ireland's history of political imprisonment and prisoner elected representatives, this disqualification was unacceptable. The government majority on the Committee voted down the Sinn Féin amendment.