Éamon Ó Cuív urges three staff per TD and defends democracy
Éamon Ó Cuív spoke in Leinster House about the need to increase resourcing for TD constituency offices and argued every member should have at least three staff after the election. He thanked House staff, warned that bureaucracy is making life harder for people dealing with the State, and referenced his work as rapporteur on means testing.
Summary of remarks
Éamon Ó Cuív opened by thanking all of the staff in the House for their help and hospitality and said Leinster House is a pleasure to work in. He stressed that constituency work reveals day-to-day flaws in policy and administration and that TDs encounter people in desperation trying to interact with the State.
Concerns about bureaucracy and constituency casework
He described how the world has become more complicated, bureaucracy has increased and forms are harder to complete, leaving many people unable to access services or get help by phone. He argued that this frontline interaction teaches TDs where policies fail and cited his role as rapporteur on a committee examining means testing.
Proposal for minimum staffing and resourcing
He urged that the State adequately resource TD offices, proposing that after the election each member of the House should have three staff. He said it is unfair for a single staffer to manage a constituency office, called for fearless funding of TD officers and noted he would not personally benefit from the change.
Defence of democracy and closing anecdote
He framed investment in TD resourcing as essential to democracy, describing democracy as the "bulwark of stability" and arguing the nation must be willing to pay for it. He closed with a recollection of a constituent who called from Dublin about office staffing and with a final remark in Irish: Goed a mil maith agat a chaile.
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Hello, I'm going to be here to see the next day and I'm here to see the next day. I'm here to see the next day and I'm here to see the next day. I'm here to see the next day. I'd just first of all like to join the thanks for the staff, all of the staff in the house here, everybody. I won't start listing out the different groups of people who have been so, so helpful over all of the years. And not only helpful, but have become good friends of all of us and have been so kind to all the visitors we brought in and so accommodating to everybody. And I think it is something that makes Leinster House a great place to work and somewhere that's a pleasure to always come to. Minister, I don't know if it ever happened to you when you were a TD that somebody will either send you an email or a call and say, would you get one of your team to do something? To look at your diary or to check something? And you kind of look yourself to the left and you look yourself to the right and you see that aside for yourself there are two on the team. And what I have noticed in politics is everything has got more complicated. The whole world has got complicated. Bureaucracy has gone mad. Forms are much more difficult. Lots of people are having lots more difficulty interacting with the state. You can't get anybody on the phone. And they come in desperation to people like deputies to try to sort their problems out. And the service they rightly seek should be of a high quality. Now some people would say, well that's not the job of the TD. I don't know who's meant to do it. But I would say actually I disagree. Because my experience was you learnt so much about the flaws in the system. Whether it was farms that were badly designed, policies that have ridiculous results. But it's only when you go to the coalface you actually see what ordinary people encounter every day in the system. And I have brought many of the ideas that I have learned from doing my constituency work in as policies when I had the great opportunity of being a minister. And my last act here was to be rapporteur on a committee that looked at the whole issue of means testing which is a huge issue for people in the west of Ireland but all over the country. Many, many people are means tested. So I believe it's absolutely vital, and I can say this going out the door, that there's adequate resourcing of the TD. And democracy over the world is under challenge. There are lots of people who think that it's an unnecessary expense. There's a lot of commentary to that effect. I believe that democracy is the bulwark of stability and is incredibly important to where we find ourselves as a nation in terms of the progress we have made. And that we must be willing to pay for it. And let the people who don't agree stand up and say they don't agree. But the vast majority of the people do agree. They want the service. If you'll indulge me for one more minute. I remember years ago a lady rang me. She was giving out about something. I was a minister at the time. And she was giving out that I had staff in my constituency office. And I noticed the telephone call came from Dublin. So I let her off for a while and then I said to her, By the way, would you have been mad at me if nobody had answered the phone? This is my constituency office, but you're from Dublin. And she said, well, I suppose I would. And she started laughing. And then she apologised and said, OK, I accept. TDs officers are public officers that are accessed by people from all over the place. And we should be fearless in funding them. And my suggestion, Minister, is that after this election is the time to do it. And to make sure that at least every member of the House has three staff. It's not fair to have one staff member on their own in your constituency office. That is bad practice. And we should all have a member up here. And I can say that going outside the door because I will never benefit if that comes in. But it's time we faced the work burden for TDs. And we did something practical about it. And that's one small suggestion. There are other reforms I'd like to see. But that's one I'll put on the agenda here today. In what might be my last or my second last speech in today. Goed a mil maith agat a chaile.
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