The current political system in Ireland needs to be reviewed and consequently abolished. Politicians are currently under so much pressure to retain seats and win votes that they are petrified of changing the status-quo if it means taking a risk. In general, politicians are underqualified and inexperienced regarding the decisions they are obliged to make. The Dail should remain divided into ministries but there should not be one individual responsible for decisions. For example, the Ministry for Education should comprise of a group of officials experienced in the running of schools and universities. These officials will possess wisdom that only comes from many years of working within the education process. Other Ministries should work the same with groups of 'elders' leading the way. The voting process will become a mere formality to sustain our sense of democracy by voting for this reformed system to continue. The officials within these ministries should be paid handsomely and should not be given expences, or anything that would influence their judgement of what is benefitial for the country. A reform of the system in essential because Irish people no longer trust individual politicians or the system itself. If political parties must continue to exist, they should only represent the people they know at local levels such as town councils. All expenditure by these councils should be strictly monitored by the Ministry of Finance.
Firstly we should have a referendum to determine that the people want reform, which would be in favour by a landslide. Secondly we should invite submissions from respected individuals who wish to represent the country by contributing to the ministry that their experience could be of use to. We should then have an election without canvassing or media input, but instead the people go into the booth and have a list of the credentials in front of them of all the prospective candidates for each ministry. As all candidates will have similar professional credentials, the voting may seem random but in this election we will be choosing randomly from people who are all capable of doing the job as opposed to randomly choosing from people in the hope of electing someone suitable. For example if ten people are elected to the Ministry for Health, they will all have worked as Doctors, Nurses and in other various capacities in the health system. This is in contrast to our current Minister for Health who graduated from University with a degree in 'Modern Studies' and worked briefly as a school teacher. Another example of someone unqualified for a job is our current Taoiseach who after graduating as a solicitor went on to serve as Minister for Labour, Energy, Transport and Health.
I am sorry Mrs. President, but there is absolutely no point in having a competition like this to encourage growth and prosperity when the Irish people no longer believe in or trust those who govern us or the system in which they govern. How are we supposed to believe that all the great ideas submitted to this competition can be implemented successfully by the same system that has lied, cheated and deprived the people of justice and any sense of fairness or equality. Unfortunately this competition is just another in a long line of examples of how the Irish nation ignores the real problem by painting over the cracks. The foundation is broken, so let's fix it!

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