The Labour Party spokesman on education and science, Mr Michael D. Higgins, has said Irish politics has been devalued by the recent spate of political scandals.
In a policy document on citizenship, to be published today, Mr Higgins argues that revelations about certain politicians have generated "a corrosive cynicism that unfairly presents all politics as corrupt and labels public service as a lesser life".
The document, The Space of Politics Recovered, claims many Irish parliamentarians have become participants in "a silent fear of populism" which feeds the stereotypical view of corruption created by a few politicians.
The Galway West TD makes the case for reforming and reasserting the power and accountability of Dail Eireann. He says the transfer of power away from the Oireachtas in recent years has been done without any thought and has led to a situation where the public no longer has confidence in the framing of the legislative programme.
Mr Higgins believes there now exists an incrementalism that serves as a substitute for policy. He says the electorate is entitled to know how legislation is initially proposed and what the power involved in all legislation is.
The document commits the Labour Party to placing the concept of citizenship at the centre of all policy pledges. Mr Higgins says: "Citizenship generates rights that must be shared and respected".
He argues that the public needs to get away from a narrow belief in consumption and focus more on community involvement. "Our economic success of recent times cannot be seen as an end in itself." It must be used to tackle social problems, such as homelessness and drug addiction.
When next in government the Labour Party is committed to ending all forms of discrimination and exclusion based on gender, age, sexual orientation, race, religion, disability, and marital and family status.