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Fianna Fail Manifesto Stresses Political Reform
Read more about: Features, Fianna Fail, Manifesto 
Edit at 14:00The full manifesto is available here.
It is really hard to read the Irish Times report on today’s Fianna Fail manifesto launch and avoid thinking three, cynical thoughts.
1) All well and good, but you were in power for the last 13 years. Whither the new found reform zeal?
2) The Green Party really did have an influence at cabinet. They helped write your next manifesto.
3) So your new ideas at this election have nothing to do with the economy…
I guess running on your record was out of the question?
In its manifesto to be published today, Fianna Fáil will suggest ministers should not be hampered by having to do constituency work. TDs who are chosen by the taoiseach to be members of the cabinet will be replaced by a substitute in the Dáil who would have to be named on a list published before the election.
Ministers would continue to attend the Dáil, answer questions and participate in debates, but they would not have votes in Dáil divisions. “This system would allow them to devote significantly more time to their ministerial duties,” according to the manifesto. Ministers would continue to require Dáil approval for their appointment.
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Another radical change is that the Taoiseach would be allowed to nominate people who are not members of the Oireachtas to be ministers. A confirmation process would be put in place which would include “a presentation of priorities” before a committee.
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Fianna Fáil will propose a revamped electoral system which would see a mix of single-seat constituencies elected through single transferable votes along with a top-up national list.
It reads like the manifesto of a party that doesn’t expect to be negotiating a PFG on Feb 26th. Legislation gets independent fiscal analysis and the working week goes to your average Mon-Fri 9-5. Would love to know what the fiscal analysis would have made of Charlie McCreevey’s budgets for years. Any Cowen’s for that matter.
It’s a bizarre proposal from FF until you remember that it’s already what FF have for county councils. The TDs and Ministers can no longer double-job as councillors, so they just get an assistant into the councillor position to do the voting part of the job but it’s a team operation.
Having a substitute in the Dail would hardly free up ministers at all, it’s not voting in the Dail is causing them that many headaches for them. And they are already allocated up to half a dozen civil servants to handle their constituency work at the taxpayers expense. This is done without letting on to the constituent who is lead to believe it’s the minister who is writing and signing all those letters until that letter turns out to be for a murder or child molester in which case we’re then told it was their staff wrote it.
And what happens when the minister seeks to run for re-election or is dropped from the cabinet? Do they kick out the sub? and what do they campaign on? – People of Ballysomewhere “Vote for me, my sub did all the local work.”
This is even more half baked than I thought it might be, and FF are still persisting, and being allowed to by the press, with inventing terms that make no sense like single seat PR and unilateral renegotiation.
What is Fianna Fáil’s position on the following issues:
loss of sovereignty to the E.U.
1) Irish reunification
2) ecumanism
3) illegal immigrants
4) An teanga náisiúnta
5) abortion
6) same-sex marriage
7) the debt of the Irish state