The powers of the Crown were taken over by the President so that to a large extent he became and is a symbol of our sovereignty, independence and democracy. The President evolved with the Constitution but has been cast as its guardian in popular belief. On this occasion it must be stressed that the President is not in fact the guardian of the Constitution despite considerable belief to the contrary. The President is subject to the same Constitution but hyperbole has even suggested that he is its enforcer. He is not. However, he does take precedence over all others. This, taken together with his functions and powers, makes him a republic's answer to a latter day monarchy.
The principal powers of the President are well known. He may refuse to dissolve the Dáil on the advice of a Taoiseach who has ceased to retain majority support. The exact definition of this is not contained in the Constitution nor to the best of my knowledge do we have any case law from the Supreme Court or any other court as to what precisely this means. It is not stated specifically in the Constitution that if the Taoiseach is defeated on a budgetary matter, he has ceased to retain the majority support of the Dáil nor is it stated specifically in the Constitution that if the Taoiseach loses a vote of confidence he has ceased to retain the support of the majority of the Dáil but one can only assume that this would be the position taking it to its logical conclusion.
The President may refer a Bill to the Supreme Court. This power has been exercised by a number of Presidents. It is important to point out that any additional powers conferred by the Oireachtas on a President may only be exercised on the advice of the Government. One may well ask why. It would appear that the reason is that there can be only one authority in a democracy. To have two authorities would be to have a conflict in relation to the Executive or Legislature and that would not be desirable. It is clearly prohibited under the Irish Constitution. That is why the President's powers are so restricted. The restrictions placed on the President are placed there to ensure that the Taoiseach of the day and the Government, alone with the Legislature, have the power to pass laws. The President's ceremonial role in relation to signing Bills into law is there as a recognition of his position as head of State.
It is interesting to reflect in the light of a motion such as this that the most contentious aspects of the draft constitution when debated in this House in May and June of 1937 actually referred to the powers of the President. Many people then on the Opposition benches feared that a dictatorship would evolve. That fear gained a certain amount of credibility, but the experience since 1937 has clearly indicated that this is not the position, and that is why the powers of the President are so restricted under the 1937 Constitution.
It was outlined to the House last week by the Minister for the Environment that the conferring of additional powers, as are specified in the motion on the President, would invariably and inevitably result in a conflict between the Executive on the one hand and the President and his primacy in relation to matters ceremonial for the most part, on the other.
It has generally been felt that the role of the President has in some way been demeaned by the fact that we have not had a Presidential election for 17 years. It should be recalled that there was not a Presidential election in 1938, in 1952, in 1974, in 1976 nor in 1983. Therefore the most of the remaining powers given to the President under the 1937 Constitution appear to be for the most part what one could describe as a rubber stamp exercise — the appointment of a Taoiseach on the nomination of the Dáil, the appointment of the Government on the Taoiseach's nomination, the right to accept the resignation of a member of Government or terminate his appointment on the Taoiseach's advice and the right to summon and dissolve the Dáil on the Taoiseach's advice although the dissolution is of course within his absolute discretion. The President can convene meetings of either House of the Oireachtas after consultations with the Council of State. The President can sign Bills into law and he is the supreme commander of the Defence Forces. The President has of course rights in relation to pardon or commuting or remitting a punishment in the criminal law area. The President may communicate with the Houses of the Oireachtas and may give a message to the nation provided it is approved by the Government. Essentially the President has two powers, the power to dissolve the Dáil and to refer Bills to the Supreme Court following consultation.
As a Fianna Fáil backbencher speaking about the role of the President tonight, I feel constrained to say that this is a particularly sad time. In speaking about the role of the President it would be remiss of me, as other speakers appear to have used this platform to boost their own candidates, if I did not at this stage pay tribute to Deputy Brian Lenihan and say that no person is more fitting for the role of President. It is true that the Taoiseach did what he had to do, having no option left, and the Opposition benches have obtained their pound of flesh. However, I do not think it is a matter of pride for Opposition Parties, that it is a matter to boast about or that it is a matter on which they could conceivably seek support from the Irish people.
Deputy Brian Lenihan is the best candidate in this Presidential election. He has gone through the mill. He has served for 33 years in Irish public life. He has served in seven different Governments and in nine different Departments as a member of the Cabinet. He has been Tánaiste and, in addition, he is the Presidential candidate for the Fianna Fáil Party.
I find it interesting, to put it at its mildest, to observe the concern being expressed by Opposition parties for the Presidency. The motion before us calls for the House to confer additional functions and powers on the President. In recent days Opposition parties have also agonised over the suitability or otherwise of the former Tánaiste, Deputy Brian Lenihan, for this high office. In view of all of this laudable concern it would be appropriate at this stage for me to remind the House and the electorate of precisely how a Government, comprised of Fine Gael and Labour, treated the former President Cearbhail Ó Dálaigh who was the immediate predecessor of the present incumbent.
In October 1976 the then Minister for Defence, Patrick Donegan, made a statement to members of the Defence Forces in Mullingar in which he described the President as "a thundering disgrace". The reason he gave for this extraordinary and deeply damaging statement was that the President had exercised his powers under Article 26 of the Constitution by referring to the Supreme Court a Bill which had been passed by the Oireachtas. In effect, what was happening was that the Minister for Defence was engaging in head on combat with the President of the State in relation to what was his discretionary powers, and one of the very few which he had. The fact that the offensive remark was made to members of the Defence Forces about their Commander-in-Chief merely emphasised the enormity of the insult. On 21 October 1976 a motion was debated by this House calling on the Minister to resign. The Fine Gael and Labour Parties rallied to a man behind the Minister and the motion was defeated.
What manner of man was this President who had been so grossly insulted for carrying out his duties as he, a renowned Constitutional lawyer, saw fit? During the course of the debate John Kelly, then Parliamentary Secretary to the Taoiseach and himself an acknowledged expert on the Constitution, said and I quote:
The President, a distinguished lawyer, presided over the Supreme Court during a brilliant period. He presided over it in a series of judgments which revolutionised Irish constitutional jurisprudence ... his standing as a judge and his absolute integrity and independence are utterly beyond question.
In spite of these very apt words the result was as I have stated. The only person to resign, the only person forced out, was the President himself and the State was robbed of one of its most distinguished servants. Let those who would gloat over their pound of flesh tonight recall that night. The President took this drastic action because of his deep concern for the office he held and his belief that he would find it intolerable to serve side by side with that particular Government.
In the circumstances I am surprised that Fine Gael and Labour have engaged in such a vicious assault on a man's integrity over the last eight or nine days. This unwarranted attack and unceasing barrage on this man's integrity was directed against a man who had served the Irish people for 33 long years, most of them at the highest level of Government. No man or woman in this House can point a finger at the former Tánaiste and say that, during the period he served in this Ministry or that, or served on the Opposition benches, he had anything but the greatest integrity. It is on this basis that the former Tánaiste, Deputy Brian Lenihan, now presents himself before the Irish people and he does so with his integrity and honour intact and with a breadth of experience that no other candidate in this election could even dream to boast about.
I am not going to get involved in personalising the Presidential election campaign or to say that either of the other two candidates is not a good candidate, but I do want to say that Deputy Brian Lenihan has a vast range of experience in Irish public life which has to be taken into account and that under no circumstances would this man denigrate the office of President. He is known internationally throughout the length and breadth of the European Community and in many other countries, by Heads of State and is widely respected. I do not believe we could have a finer ambassador for this State.
It is true to say that in this role a practical knowledge of working political life is desirable. Deputy Lenihan in his career over the past 33 years has exhibited the kind of strength of character and ability which the office of President demands. He will never be in conflict with the Government of the day. He knows and understands the role of President better than any other candidate in this election because he has seen political life over a long period.
Throughout the recent controversy all arguments and media representation zoned in on Deputy Lenihan. Nothing was said about remarks later denied by another candidate. There was no outcry in the media about that as Deputy Lenihan was hounded from pillar to post. Ultimately the Taoiseach, in order to avoid a general election which nobody wants, was left with no alternative. I am not going to pretend that this is not a very sad night for me. I think that most people involved in public life, regardless of their political persuasion, would have to admit that, throughout his political career, this was a man of impeccable character, and still is. That we all make mistakes in relation to issues over a period of time, is undeniable, but what cannot be denied is the humanity, integrity, ability, dedication and patriotism of this man who was such a good servant to this country. I believe that Deputy Lenihan can and will be of great service to the country. I believe that he will unquestionably carry out the role of President with geat distinction and ability.
Today's debate and the debate in the media over the past eight days politicised the Office of President more than ever in the history of this State. The Presidency was dragged to the front of every newspaper in the country and the President's role was in many ways demeaned by the unseemly squabble which took place and which was instigated by Fine Gael and Deputy Garret FitzGerald. There has been much talk about not politicising the Presidency and the functions of the President have been discussed in this Chamber, which is only right and proper, but the vilification of a candidate for the Office of President, and the hounding of a man who has declared himself to be a candidate has, more than anything else, since the 1937 Constitution was approved, brought the role of the President into political life. It is sad that that has occurred.
This is very sad because the Office of President is independent of the Legislature. That is what was intended and that is the way it should be. Some candidates for the Office have been portraying the Presidency as something it is not. The powers of the President are set out in the Constitution and the power to amend the Constitution is vested in the people only; nobody else has the right to change the Constitution. Undoubtedly, one President may be more expansive than another but the truth is that the President is constrained under the Constitution and there can only be one authority under the same Constitution.
The editorial in The Cork Examiner the day before yesterday contained statements on the role of the President. It was stated, for example, that the Minister for Industry and Commerce, Deputy O'Malley was a member of the Cabinet in 1982 who decided to make telephone calls to the President. That is absolutely untrue and, if you like, is comment gone mad. Fianna Fáil were in Opposition in 1982. The same editorial went on to state that it was definitely unconstitutional to make a telephone call to the President. However, the 1937 Constitution does not state that it is unconstitutional to make a telephone call to the President.
The exact role of the President in relation to the dissolution of the Dáil is defined. He has absolute discretion whether or not to dissolve the Dáil but his role, outside that bold statement, is not defined. It is not stated, for example, in the 1937 Constitution that the President may ring the Leader of the Opposition, or call him in, no more than the Leader of the Opposition may not call the President. The truth of the matter is that it is a fallacy to state that it is unconstitutional to make such a call. Therefore, one can only conjecture at the precise role of the President in relation to the dissolution of the Dáil. What is certain is that he can refuse to dissolve the Dáil or, alternatively, he can dissolve the Dáil. One would imagine that in the event of a President deciding not to dissolve the Dáil political activity would commence in this House and if some consensus could be arrived at between a number of Opposition parties and, perhaps, Independents that would give that group a majority, that would then be communicated to the President, either directly or by some other means.
The role of the President, as I said, is extremely limited under the 1937 Constitution but this does not mean that a President cannot play a very worthwhile role in society. I have no doubt, knowing the kind of man he is, that Deputy Brian Lenihan would fill that role better than anybody else. He has the kind of personality which endears him to people. He likes people and, without any question, people like him. For this reason, when the election is held many of the people who got their pound of flesh tonight will be very surprised with the result.
Yes, it is clear Deputy Lenihan made an error in relation to his interview with Mr. Jim Duffy, but we all make errors. Let this much be said: should either Deputy Austin Currie or Mrs. Mary Robinson spend 33 years at the top in public life and make only one error during that period then I might well be the first to say that he or she should be President. Deputy Lenihan, who has however temporarily, departed the role of Tánaiste and Minister for Defence, is now a candidate for the Presidency and the people will decide whether or not he should be President. I believe, on reflection, the people will decide that Deputy Lenihan has the experience and ability necessary to be the President of Ireland. I also believe that the people, however they decide next week, will on reflection always remember the day the trap was set to destroy a man who had given 33 years of his life to them in the best possible way.
It is a very sad reflection on Irish political life, and those involved in setting the trap which eventually won the pound of flesh, that those people so demeaned the office of Presidency in that way. I do not believe Irish political life should be about the vilification or the hounding of any one man. Neither do I believe that Irish political life is well served by mean tactics such as those. Ultimately, the people will have the opportunity to pass judgment. To say the least, it demeans the office of President to plant a party political activist in an audience to lure a man into a trap. That is a sad reflection on those involved but even though they have won the battle tonight they have not won the war. It is my view that whatever about the battle they will, ultimately, lose the war.
