Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Yes. They will be put in members' pigeon holes today.

On housekeeping matters, I propose that for the first three weeks the committee operate in the normal way. We can review the position in September. What normally happens is that the Comptroller and Auditor General makes his opening comments. Witnesses then comment and we will have already arranged the first and second speakers. The first speaker has 20 minutes in total for questions and answers; the second has 15, while everybody else has ten. That gives everybody an opportunity to make a contribution within a reasonable period. I suggest we retain this timetable to see how it operates for a couple of weeks. We can then review it, but it has worked well in practice.

Normally, as part of our work programme, a list of first and second speakers on a rotating basis is drawn up. There is an onus on the first and second speakers to be well prepared. I invite members to indicate to the clerk which of the three committee meetings at which they wish to be the first or second speaker and to do so by Tuesday, 12 July. The meetings will be with the OPW, the HSE and the National Treasury Management Agency. If there are too many offering to be a first or a second speaker at a particular meeting, the clerk and I will draw lots. However, everybody will have an opportunity to speak.