Fintan O'Toole and his Ten 'radical' points for political change in Ireland.

The Irish time's coloumnist Fintan O'Toole on November 26th published a list of "ten radical reforms" needed to jumpstart the Irish economy again.
And to give Ireland back some pride....
But how radical are these "reforms" and would they really help our sick green fields?

O'Toole's so-called reforms include:

1. SHARE THE PAIN
No one paid from the public purse should earn more than €100,000 during the period of the emergency. --Prettey good judgement here however I would have put this somewhere else on the list (another spot) perhaps Mr. O'Toole is limiting himself here by only having ten "radical reforms."

2. PUT THE PARISH PUMP BACK IN THE PARISH
Real local democracy, paid for by local taxes, and using direct democracy at every level, must be established. -- Well Mr. O'Toole we do have county councils but I would have to admmit they are pretty inaffective and redundent, local democracy could work but it shouldn't contradict the decsions made by those who are higher up.

3. END CLIENTILISM
Change the electoral system that turns TDs into constituency fixers. Replace it with a mix of direct election and a list system similar to that used for the Scottish parliament. -- I'm not sure what exact system the Scottish parliament uses so I can't really say a lot about this reform.

4. CUT THE FAT
Reduce the Dail to 100 members. Either transform the Senate within 12 months into a genuine forum for civic society or abolish it. -- This I agree with we need less Dail memebers but I disagree, we shouldn't even bother to reform the senate we should abolish it De Valera got rid of the senate during the 1930's because of the problem's it was causing politically we don't really need one it is anti-productive.

5. MAKE PARLIAMENT WORK.
Stop the use of the guillotine system to pass laws that have not been scrutinised. Give Dail committees the powers to examine proposals for spending before it happens and to hold those who spend public money accountable. Make senior public servants responsible for their decisions and actions. -- Mr. O'Toole's intentions are right here however this seems a bit fantastic to work, on paper you can "make" anything work....But parliament is always gonna be divided over things which is why I'm wondering should we even have one during this time period.

6. BRING WOMEN INTO POLITICS
Cut public subsidies to political parties unless at least 30 per cent of their candidates are female. -- I agree with this point but it is not needed here in these "radical" points, this has always been a problem that we don't have enough female political figures but having them or not having them won't help to save our nation, if this was the 1950's this comment may make a bit more sense and have more susbatnace to it.

7. END IMPUNITY
Conduct an urgent review of company law to ensure that white collar criminals are brought to justice. -- Again like point #6 this is a good suggestion for reform but during economic turmoil how will this help us? Mr. O'Toole should focous more on the subsequent difficuiltes the nation is facing with the IMF/EU takeover and points to reform us in that context, these reforms he is suggesting would have been perfect in the boom.

8. GET MONEY OUT OF POLITICS
Ban all significant private donations to political parties. Make parties publish annual accounts. Register and control lobbyists. Protect whistleblowers. - Same argument here again, it's a very vaild and excellent point but I don't see us escaping the IMF with it.

9. RESTORE THE RIGHT TO KNOW
Bring back the original Freedom of Information Act. -- Again this should just happen in general, at this stage I find it interesting that Mr. O'Toole never seemed to mention any of these 'radical' reform's when we were still an independent Republic, why now?

10. NO MORE CRONYISM
Make all appointments to State and public bodies open to public competition and Dail scrutiny. Ban any individual from being a director of more than three companies or public bodies. -- This I admit could have saved us a bit if we had implimentaed it during the boom and it is right but it not going to stop (like the majoirity of O'Toole's points) the IMF from taking us over.

in conclusion; these points are useful but the large bulk of them should be included in a working system in general, at the minute it is our system that is damaged and Mr. O'Toole doesn't seem to grasp this he suggests a few vauge reforms for the Dail and that's about it, we should take the good points out of his suggestions BUT come up with our own points and plan for action.
When I have studied the situation a bit more, I will try and put some of my own radical suggestons down on paper.
I respect Mr. O'Tooles views but I question how they would save our national identity.