Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny has committed himself to sweeping reforms of the political system including a substantial reduction in the number of TDs and the abolition of the Seanad.
Delivering the keynote address at his party's national conference in Killarney last night, Mr Kenny said it was fitting that Fine Gael as the party that set up the institutions of the state should now reform them to meed the needs of the Ireland of tomorrow.
Mr Kenny said that in order to create a smaller, more dynamic and more responsive political system, he would reduce the size of the Dáil by 20 and ensure that it worked property by holding government ministers to account on behalf of the people.
He also pledged himself to seeking approval for the abolition of Seanad Éireann and said he was determined to bring more women into politics.
"Some of our ideas will require constitutional change. Tonight, I commit to putting those proposals to the Irish people within one year of Fine Gael taking office," he said.
"Then we can have a New Politics in Ireland, chosen and approved by you, the people. New Politics will be needed if we are to deal with the issues in our country today."
Mr Kenny said the biggest problem in Ireland today was that 434,000 people were out of work and many thousands more were being forced to emigrate in search of jobs.
"Fianna Fáil believes that we have a budgetary crisis which can be cured by balancing the books. Fine Gael understands that we have a jobs crisis which can only be cured by employment. That is why Fine Gael's approach to the economy is driven by one central principle. We know that we must get our people off the dole and back to work."
He said Fine Gael's plan was to stimulate job creation. Enterprise spokesman Leo Varadkar was proposing steps that could be taken immediately while energy and communications spokesman Simon Coveney was looking at longer term proposals.
"Leo's plan will take 70,000 people off the dole within 18 months. It will give them new opportunities through a combination of second chance education, a graduate internship programme, changes to the social welfare code and a jobs subsidy scheme.
"Simon's NewERA plan will create over 105,000 jobs. This will happen through an injection of 18 billion euro of new money into the Irish economy. This money will be raised from private equity, sale of state assets and investment from the European Investment Bank."
Mr Kenny said that these jobs would be in renewable energy, water quality and broadband and would be delivered within Fine Gael's first term in government to provide real opportunities for all people no matter what their age, and no matter what their trade or qualification.
He said that in order to deliver on our jobs policy, Fine Gael must address what has been the most catastrophic legacy of this government.
"And now they want further sacrifices from taxpayers and mortgage borrowers. Unless there is a change of Government, the banks will get what they want. There is no limit to what Fianna Fáil will do to protect their powerful friends. Did the Taoiseach not say that whatever cheque is required will be written? Cheques written by Fianna Fáil come out of your pocket."
Mr Kenny said that Fine Gael had a fundamentally different approach. "Firstly, we won't borrow further billions to bail out Anglo Irish Bank. We will use that money to start a new State National Recovery Bank. It will get credit flowing quickly to protect jobs and support business," he told delegates.
"And secondly, there will be no whitewash. The current secrecy will not be tolerated. We will carry out a rigorous and open investigation to find out exactly why the banking scandal happened. We will hold people responsible, even if they are ministers. We will open the books."
Mr Kenny said there had to be a clear message to bankers. "They will never be allowed to destroy our economy and our country again. Those who broke the law in pursuit of greed and reckless lending must face the consequences and, if the courts decide, they must be sent to jail."
