Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I will make an observation in this regard. There are no cases in which legislation was held up by chairmen who were non-governmental Members. The Government will have majorities on every committee because of the manner in which this is structured. I sent to the Taoiseach's office a document outlining the basis of what takes place in the Northern Ireland Assembly. I refer to the d'Hondt mechanism that applies in many countries in Europe. It would provide proportional representation to the parties in the House and would not preclude work from being done. The purpose of such committees, which are instruments of the Dáil rather than of the Government, is to deal with legislation that comes before them. While the Taoiseach might claim that Members of Government parties should chair the vast majority of such committees, that is no reason to assert that legislation would be held up because that would not be the case given that the Government would command a majority on every committee.

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