Congratulations to everyone on their election. I’m forward to lots of changes and much more action and plain speaking in the Dail.

That large majority is going to be strange enough.  It is going to be very difficult to manage it and also to show TD’s actually doing something other than reading pre-prepared scripted speeches.

Some wishes

• Dear new Ministers, answer the questions, tell us the truth.
• Dear Opposition, don’t oppose for the sake of it.  Propose legislation that means something.  Use private members time to cover things that are not being done rather than to do speech after speech against something.
• No more stupid adjournment debates when nobody is looking with Ministers who are not responsible providing the government response.
• Committees which include more voices of people affected by issues and not just those who successfully lobby for a hearing.  Committees that research the issue that they are going to discuss rather than going through the motions.  Publicly seek contributions. re
• Oireachtas Communications people – put Oireachtas Report online – do a weekly report also.  Get the reporters to explain why things happen and explain how legislation is made.

Other suggestions?  (See I did not use the word reform once!)  Pages 18 and 19 of the Programme for Government have more inforrmation on the proposals from the new government.