Éamon Ó Cuív urges three staff per TD to tackle growing bureaucracy
Éamon Ó Cuív spoke at Leinster House about the strain on TDs' constituency offices and urged post-election funding to ensure at least three staff per member. He defended the role of TDs in helping citizens navigate complex state systems and cited his committee work on means testing as informing his recommendation.
Acknowledgement of staff
He opened by thanking all of the staff in the house and said their kindness and help made Leinster House a pleasure to work in. He noted staff have become good friends and are accommodating to visitors.
Constituency work exposes system flaws
He argued that increasing complexity and bureaucracy mean many citizens cannot access the state easily and come to TDs in desperation. He said constituency work taught him about badly designed forms, policies with ridiculous results, and everyday encounters that reveal flaws in the system.
Committee experience on means testing
He recalled his last act was serving as rapporteur on a committee that examined means testing, which he said is a huge issue in the west of Ireland and across the country. He said his constituency experience informed policy ideas when he was a minister.
Proposal for staffing reform
He suggested to the minister that, after this election, the House should ensure every member has at least three staff. He described one-staff constituency offices as unfair and bad practice, and urged fearless funding of TD officers so they can provide the public service people expect.
Defence of democracy and public service
He said democracy is under challenge and must be funded, calling it the bulwark of stability and vital to the nation's progress. He argued the vast majority want the service TDs provide and that public officers in constituency offices are accessed by people from all over the place.
Anecdote illustrating public demand
He recounted a phone call from a woman in Dublin who complained about him having staff, and noted that when asked if she would be upset if no one answered the phone, she changed her view. The anecdote underlined his point about the public expectation of access to TDs and their offices.
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I'd like to thank 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 have brought in and so accommodating to everybody. I think it is something that makes Leinster House a great place to work and somewhere that is a pleasure to always come to. Leinster, 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 is two on the team. 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. They come in desperation to people like deputies to try to sort their problems out. The service they rightly seek should be of a high quality. Some people would say that is not the job of the TD, I don't know who is 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 forms that were badly designed, policies that have ridiculous results. But it is 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 learnt 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 is absolutely vital, and I can say this going out the door, that there is adequate resourcing of the TD. And democracy over the world is under challenge. There are lots of people who think that it is an unnecessary expense, there is 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 will 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. My suggestion, Minister, is that after this election, it's 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. Goedan mīl māhaigat a cairle.
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