Proposals for radical reform of the electoral system are unlikely to come before Cabinet within the lifetime of this Government, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government has admitted.
However, calling for a reasoned debate on the issue over the next two years, Mr Dempsey said it is his personal view that fewer TDs, elected in single-seat constituencies by a combination of proportional representation and the list system, were among the reforms needed to end the culture of "clientelist" politics.
He also attacked the "facile" argument that the existing system was the best that could be had. "The system is not working, and it's not capable of working because TDs are too busy doing things which should be done by other people, especially in a properly functioning local authority system," he said.
The Minister was reacting to Labour's criticism of his proposals in an interview with the Irish Independent yesterday. The party said Fianna Fail was intent on getting rid of the proportional representation system in order "to give itself a greater chance of an overall majority".
Labour's public enterprise spokesman, Mr Emmet Stagg, also accused Mr Dempsey of trying to pre-empt the outcome of a report on electoral reform later this year by the all-party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution. Mr Dempsey however said his proposals were an attempt to start a real debate on the issue, to which he hoped the committee's report would contribute.
Mr Dempsey envisages a reduction in the number of TDs from 166 to between 110 and 120, with a proportion of TDs elected from a list system. The list would have a threshold for representation, but he believes the 5 per cent German model is "too high for Ireland", and proposes a 2 or 3 per cent level instead. This would safeguard the interests of smaller parties, he said.
The Greens were divided in their response to the proposals, with Mr John Gormley TD giving them a broad welcome while Ms Patricia McKenna MEP called them "an outrageous attack on Ireland's fair and proportional democratic electoral system".
Ms McKenna said that while the Greens were open to debate on electoral reform, it would be "naive" to go along with any Fianna Fail proposal, given its "track record" on the issue.
"Mr Dempsey's claim that his proposal is attempting to deal with surplus TDs is a political smoke-screen aimed at disguising the fact that in his eyes the surplus TDs are the Greens, independents and other smaller parties . . . Single-seat constituencies as proposed by the Minister would benefit Fianna Fail and, to a slightly lesser extent, Fine Gael, at the expense of the Greens and others."
Mr Gormley welcomed the proposals, especially that of a list system, which he said was the only way "to get away from clientelist politics and to make Dail Eireann into what it should be - a real legislature". He warned against the idea of a threshold for representation, however, as this would discriminate against the smaller parties: "The idea of pure proportionality must be maintained."
He added: "It is ironic that Mr Dempsey receives support from the Green Party on this issue when it is evident that there is little enthusiasm in his own party for such proposals."
