Madam, - Although it is worrying that the work of the Oireachtas is deemed unimportant by a majority of people, neither the Constitution nor its framers should necessarily be blamed for the power government has over parliament.
Contrary to your claim (Editorial, August 10th), the Constitution does not "heavily skew" the balance of power in favour of the executive. Rather, the Oireachtas has the sole and exclusive power to make laws (Article 15.2.1). The role of the government, which is appointed by the Dáil, is simply to execute these laws.
At all times, the government is responsible to the Dáil (Article 28.4.1), which can choose to dismiss the government at any time it wishes.
One of the main reasons for the supersession of the executive over the legislature is the presence of political parties and their internal discipline, which ensures TDs vote the party line.
Consequently, the Dáil can realise its power only if membership is restricted to independent TDs. Whether or not this is too high a price to pay for a more relevant and more powerful legislature is a question I leave to your readers to decide. - Yours, etc,
LIAM WEEKS,
College Lecturer,
Department of Government,
University College Cork.