From Jane Suiter
A group of us including Professor Michael Marsh, Dr Theresa Reidy and I along with Red C undertook research following the referendums in November with a view to learning lessons for future referendum campaigns. The report is here and the presentation given to the Oireachtas Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions yesterday. here. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | 
Constitution, Government reform, Seanad Reform, votes for emigrants | 
Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
Posted by David Farrell (February 6, 2012)
Reports are circulating that the government is about to take steps to deal with Ireland’s terrible shortcomings on Freedom of Information and Whistleblowers legislation (to be blogged about when more is known). Both measures were promised in the Programme for Government and they are important steps on the road to making Irish government more open and transparent. But there is so much more that is needed, and high on the list should be ending the disgraceful practice of allowing our elected representatives to claim expenses without having to provide receipts – ‘unvouched expenses’ to use the jargon of Irish government. The Programme for Government also promised to end this practice, but so far there is no sign of any action. As was widely reported in the media last week, TDs (and Senators) have access to generous allowances to cover travel and accommodation. What was not reported on is just how many of them still continue to opt for unvouched expenses, which prevents any financial scrutiny of the claims. Read the rest of this entry »
19 Comments | Corruption and Accountability, freedom of information, Government reform | Tagged: Open Government, TDs expenses, unvouched expenses | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell
Today’s Sunday Independent is interesting for what appears to have been an in depth interview given by Joan Burton. The interviews is here and the analysis here. Read the rest of this entry »
14 Comments | Committee System, Government reform | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
As stated by the fictional character of Sir Humphrey Appleby in Yes Minister ‘Open Government is a contradiction in terms. You can be open, or you can have government. The Thirty Year rule is a good example of this situation.
The thirty year rule allows for the release of Cabinet Documents after the efflux of a thirty year period from the year in which they were created. Section 10 of the National Archives Act allows for the inspection of records except where they are less than 30 years old (s.10.1 (a)) or older than 30 years where their release may be contrary to the public interest, breach of statutory duty or cause damage or distress to living persons (s. 8.4). The documents which are the subject to the provisions of s 8.4 can be reviewed after a period five years by a member of the Government Department responsible for the records. Furthermore, under s.10.6 a Minister, or member of Government, is entitled to grant access to departmental document prior to the elapse of this thirty year time period. This section was used in 1992 to allow for the release of Cabinet Documents in the wake of the confusion of the Hamilton Judgment. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Constitution, freedom of information, Government reform | Permalink
Posted by Jennifer Kavanagh
Stephen Collins writing in last Saturday’s Irish Times he argues that one of the big commitments made by the Coalition during the February election and again after it took office was that it would reform the political system. He adds that while there have been some welcome changes to date, they represent a tinkering at the edges rather than fundamental reform. Read the rest of this entry »
12 Comments | Committee System, Dail Reform, Government reform | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
Post by David Farrell (October 17, 2011)
Due to great interest from various organisations and individuals abroad, The Constitutional Society in Iceland has obtained and published an independent English translation of The Constitutional Bill delivered by The Constitutional Council 29 July 2011. This can be found here.
3 Comments | Constitution, Government reform | Tagged: citizens' assemblies, Iceland | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell
The left wing think tank Tasc yesterday released a series of essays. One was written anonymously allegedly by a senior civil servant. The Irish Times reported on it here. Much of the language is similar to posters on here. It derides a culture of secrecy, and argues that our inherited political, institutional and legal framework is no longer ‘fit for purpose’ (if it ever was) to permit Irish Society to re-create itself. It poses interesting questions and attempts to provide some answers.
9 Comments | Constitution, freedom of information, Government reform, New Republic, Political culture | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
Last week The Irish Times
published the late Peter Mair’s excellent speech at MacGill this year (about 30 minutes in).
Mair argued that the problem in Ireland is that we don’t respect our State. We have never respected our State. We have never had a sense of belonging for our State. If anything we have viewed the State as the enemy, as an oppressor, as something not to be trusted but to be taken advantage of.
“That’s the culture of the cute hoors, the strokes, you get away with it and getting away with it against the State is getting away with something which is not us and doesn’t belong to us but belongs somewhere out there and it is not ours”
Interestingly, Mair had a number of solutions. Perhaps controversially in his sights was the electoral system or what he called amoral localism – which is that you do anything you can to benefit your locality and your constituency and your district, and your TD will do anything he can to benefit your locality and your district and your constituency and, in a sense, damn everything else
The result he says is that we have been so busy as citizens in ensuring the representation of our own interests and those of our constituencies that we have lost sight of the broader, collective interest, ….. We exert great control over our TDs [but] have never sought to exert any control over our governments. This is not a new argument for readers of this blog but his solutions are worth considering.
1.Reform the electoral system
2. Change the Dáil. End the quiescence
3. Give real power to local government.
22 Comments | Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, Government reform, Local Government | Permalink
Posted by Jane Suiter
I recall studying the Enlightenment in West European history and being fascinated by Diderot’s Encyclopédie project. It was an amazing effort and achievement in its own right, but can really only be understood in the broader context of Enlightement goals and values, perhaps best explained by Kant in his essay: ‘An Answer to the Question: “What is Enlightenment?”
Kant explains his thesis in an admirably succint manner in the essay’s first line: ‘Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity’. Knowledge and reason can allow us to take greater control of our own individual and collective destiny – rather than remaining passive and fearful. However, one’s capacity to learn is limited by available resources, and the media is often skewed in its presentation of the political world.
14 Comments | Dail Reform, Electoral Reform, European Union, Government reform, New Republic | Permalink
Posted by Matthew Wall
Post by David Farrell (August 13, 2011)
As reported in earlier posts on this blog, this government has made some quite impressive progress on implementing the political reform proposals proposed in its Programme for Government. They’ve made a good start. But, arguably most of this has been the low-hanging fruit, the relatively easy targets. We’ve still to see the real meat of reform. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Constitution, Electoral Reform, Government reform, New Republic | Tagged: citizens' assemblies, constitutional convention | Permalink
Posted by David Farrell
You are currently browsing the archives for the Government reform category.
Editors
Matthew Wall
ElaineByrne
Jane Suiter
Liam Weeks
Séin Ó Muineacháin
David Farrell
Eoin O'Malley
Gary Murphy
Michael Gallagher
Theresa Reidy
Adrian Kavanagh
Jennifer Kavanagh
Claire McGing
psaigenderpoliticssg
Ken McDonagh
johnobrennan
