Before the adjournment I had finished reading what Senators will be happy to know is the last quotation I will make. It is from an article by Senator Garret FitzGerald which appeared in the Irish Times on 27th May, 1964. In that article he referred to the wide political differences that had arisen in the previous Coalition Government between Fine Gael and their left-wing partner. He stated that Fine Gael were susceptible to pressures and went on to suggest that, in view of that situation and because overall majorities would be difficult to obtain by Parties in future years, so long as we retain PR, so long as we did not abolish it, as he would prefer, in favour of the alternative vote in single seat constituencies, whichever of the two principal Parties most aligned their policies with those of Labour would stand the best chance of being able to form Governments in years to come.
This is not the kind of political cynicism I would have expected from Senator FitzGerald. The suggestion is that a great Party such as Fine Gael or Fianna Fáil should align their policies with those of a small minority Party such as Labour then was and still is, with a view to attaining office. This type of situation is the greatest single danger inherent in the system of PR. We have the situation under PR in which Parties are tempted to change the policies on which they were originally elected to suit the policies of some minority Party, perhaps a very small one, in order to attain office or to maintain office.
I think no one will deny that each of the three main Parties are anxious to attain office on their own. We in Fianna Fáil have never been anxious for office except on the basis of carrying out our own policies. We have stated on many occasions that the policies of Fianna Fáil will be carried out so long as we are in office, no matter whether we have a majority or not. That is a clear, coherent standpoint which has always been adopted by us.
Fine Gael recently have been making suggestions that there may be a Coalition between them and Labour in the event of Fianna Fáil not obtaining an overall majority in the next general election and I do not think I am being unfair in suggesting that Fine Gael would look on such a coalition as second best—that they want to be in office as a Fine Gael Government, that they are interested only in a coalition on the basis that nothing else can be got.
The same applies to the Labour Party. We all know the catastrophe that befell Labour in the two Coalition Governments. Here and in the other House, when social welfare matters were being under discussion, we in Fianna Fáil have pointed out, as we were entitled to do, that, although the present Leader of the Labour Party was Minister for Social Welfare in the last Coalition Government, during the whole three years of office he was able to give only a measly, miserable half crown extra to the old age pensioners, and we have heard from the Labour Benches, and it is a reasonable reply, that after all they did not have a majority in that Government. It is quite clear that the Labour Party, who have said that never again will they take part in a Coalition Government, if they should ever go back on that would only be able to take part in a government in a subordinate position. They are also interested, as the Fine Gael Party and we are, in setting up a government of their own.
No matter what comparisons may be made by Senator Dooge and others with conditions in other countries and prophesies about what would happen here under proportional representation or under the straight vote it is quite clear, as matters stand at the moment, that there is no alternative government to Fianna Fáil except either a minority Fine Gael government depending on Labour or else a Fine Gael-Labour Coalition. That is self-evident. I do not think either Fine Gael or Labour expect within the foreseeable future under proportional representation that they can obtain an overall majority. That, to my mind, is the greatest single danger inherent in the present electoral system.
That is the main reason why we are recommending this change to a straight vote system to the people. We are doing so to clear up this matter once again, to ensure that political stagnation will not exist in Ireland in the future. We have had good governments for 30 years simply because Fianna Fáil have been able to get an overall majority or so near to an overall majority that they have been able to form a government. It is an unhealthy situation that there should have been no alternative government over such a long period. It shows that there is no alternative to the existing government.
The people, by voting "yes", as I personally believe they will, on the Fourth Amendment Bill, will be able under the straight vote to choose a government. Proportional representation is very good in enabling people to choose individual candidates or individual minority groupings but it is not good in enabling them to choose a government. Under the straight vote they will have a clear-cut issue before them of one government or another. They will be able to decide themselves as to which Party will be the government for the next four to five years. They will be able, in particular, to decide the policies they want carried out.
One of the great dangers with any coalition or minority government depending on other Parties is the people have no way of knowing whether those policies will be carried out. Take, for example, those who voted Labour in the general election which led to a coalition government, expecting Labour policies to be carried out. When this happened the last time and the Labour Ministers came to power they were unable to carry out the policies they had set before the voters. All they were able to do was to say that they did not have power to do it although they were in government. This is an entirely unsatisfactory situation. By voting "yes" on the Fourth Amendment Bill the people will get power, which they can exercise ruthlessly, to throw out an unpopular government, neck and crop. The straight vote is far more effective as a weapon for people who want to throw out an unpopular government than proportional representation ever could be.
So far from establishing dictatorship we will under the straight vote system be joining what would be called the major democracies in the world and be setting up a system which would be much more democratic from the point of view of either a Fianna Fáil government or of an alternative government, which would be much more democratic than the one we have at the moment. I am in no doubt the way things have been going in recent months that the people will come to see it is in their own interest in the exercise of political power that they should adopt the straight vote system.