THE LABOUR Party is to propose reducing the number of full-time politicians in a new policy document to be published shortly, its leader Eamon Gilmore has said.
Speaking at the Impact trade union conference in Portlaoise yesterday, he said that between TDs, Senators and the new elected mayors which have been proposed by the Government, the country could soon have between 230 and 240 full-time politicians.
“I think that there is a need to rationalise that,” he said.
Mr Gilmore said the system of governance in the country dated back to the foundation of the State and that in the 21st century it was time to look at it afresh “almost with a blank page”.
Mr Gilmore said the party had not yet worked out the precise details of the reduction in the number of full-time politicians.
However he said that this would have to start by asking what a country of 4.5 million people needed in terms of its public representation and how this should be distributed between the national centre and local government.
“We have a very centralised system of government in this country. If you look at other European countries, they put a much bigger emphasis on city management and county management and the running of a lot of services at local level. That is a direction that, I think, the Labour Party policy will be going but it is still work in progress,” he said.
Mr Gilmore made his comments in response to a question from a delegate during a question and answer session at the conference.
Meanwhile, Labour and Fine Gael emphatically ruled out participation in a government of national unity which involved Fianna Fáil. Fine Gael deputy leader Richard Bruton told the conference the country did not need “a second rate compromise with the people who had gotten the country into the mess it is in”.
He said that “regime change” was necessary. Mr Gilmore asked how many ways did people want to keep Fianna Fáil in power.
Mr Bruton said Fine Gael did not advocate cutting the number of TDs but that it did have proposals for reducing the cost of running the Oireachtas.
A spokesman for Fine Gael later pointed out that the party had already published a comprehensive policy on Oireachtas reform.
“Enda Kenny has already indicated that he is open to the possibility of reviewing all aspects of the Oireachtas, and is looking forward to liaising with the Electoral Commission in the near future.”
Fine Gael has proposed the establishment of an electoral commission whose functions would include setting the number of TDs and Senators.