Dáil reform is a worthy but woolly concept that means little to a disillusioned electorate. What matters to it is the formation of an effective government that will accelerate economic recovery and improve the quality of their lives.
Instead, it is being treated to what is a diversionary exercise, designed to convey the impression of an appetite for change while the main parties avoid their democratic obligations.
The man chosen to lead the reform process, Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl, expressed the hope that having talked about change for 40 years, something could now be done. The terms of reference of his committee are, however, tightly circumscribed. Its members are entitled to consider matters of Dáil procedure; changes to standing orders and the privileges attaching to members. That’s it.
A rebalancing of powers between the executive and parliament is not mentioned. As support drifts from the political establishment towards “Independents and Others”, however, the notions of empowering special committees to influence government policy and of relaxing the whip system have an innate attraction for smaller groups and Independents.
There may be less to the exercise, however, than backbenchers and opposition parties hope. It was significant that, after three hours of all-party debate, newly elected Ó Fearghaíl could only report progress on the ordering of Dáil business and a special day for committee meetings. Further consideration is to be given to voting arrangements and speaking rights for technical groups.
The real meat in the reform sandwich was, however, examined elsewhere in Leinster House where acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny raised the prospect of committee involvement in budgetary matters with a group of Independent TDs. Seeking their support for his nomination as Taoiseach, he was delightfully vague about the influence of committee resolutions on government policy. Budgetary planning, involving opposition parties, takes place in other European countries.
But fiscal information and centralised control have been closely guarded here. Shaking up a sclerotic parliamentary system and introducing a more transparent and inclusive approach to financial and social planning would represent a considerable advance.
There has been a great deal of ambitious talk about relaxing the whip system; empowering all-party committees; holding ministers to account at Question Time and establishing a fixed, five-year Dáil term.
These proposals attract varying levels of support from all parties and reflect a desire to make parliament more relevant. But implementation will depend on government goodwill, not on committee deliberations. That is why Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil must come out from behind their cultural barricades and engage with the primary process of government formation.