A group of political scientists has proposed a raft of political reforms that it wants implemented before the commencement of the next Dáil.

The 100 Days Campaign described the Dáil as a "puny parliament", and claims it is one of the weakest in Western Europe.



It wants a Dáil Management Committee to determine the business of the House and whether or not legislation should be guillotined.

It has proposed that the appointment process to Dáil committees be changed, as well as the committees' functions, and wants the plans to change the way the Ceann Comhairle is elected to be introduced before the end of this term.



The group says by doing this, the Dáil can move away from "Punch and Judy politics" and become a mature and reflective parliament as it approaches its 100th anniversary.

Dr Theresa Reidy of the Department of Government in University College Cork said it was 30 years ago when Basil Chubb described the Dáil as a "puny parliament" and that very little has changed substantially since then.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, she said the main issue their group has identified is that government controls parliament and that the scales are imbalanced.

The Dáil has very little capacity to carry out the effective scrutiny of government and to shape and inform policy making and legislation, she said.

She said she hopes conversation will begin about Dáil reform and said that if implemented, her group's proposals should rebalance the scales of parliament.