Emmet Stagg (Kildare North, Labour)

We are elected to this House on the basis of proportional representation. On two occasions Fianna Fáil tried to do away with that system but the people gave it their answer on both occasions. If the committees are to be truly representative of the make-up of the House, their membership should accurately reflect the numbers in the groups and parties in the Dáil. Fine Gael has argued in favour of this approach in so far as the positions of chairmen, vice chairmen and convenors are concerned. However, that argument, which is entirely valid in so far as it goes, must also be applied to the membership of the committees. The application of this proportional principle would change the proposed membership and officership of the committees from that envisaged under the grab-all proposal put forward by the Minister of State on the Government's behalf.

I will be specific and comment on the position of the Labour Party because others are well able to speak for themselves. If the proportional principle to which I refer is applied, Labour Party Members would be entitled to two chairmanships, two vice chairmanships and two convenorships. We would take those jobs and we would do them well. What is on offer at present — one or possibly one chairmanship, possibly two vice chairmanships and no convenorships — falls below our representational entitlement. The Labour Party would also be entitled to 23 of the Opposition places on the proposed committees as opposed to the 16 places on offer from the Government. I say to Fine Gael that if the proportional principle case is applied in the case of officers, it should also be applied to the membership of the committees. I wrote to the Government Chief Whip outlining the Labour Party's position and I would welcome further discussion on the matter before it is finalised.

I also add my voice to others in the House in seeking proper facilities for the committees to allow them to do their work effectively. I expect Government spokespersons and backbenchers to praise the committees and say how wonderful they are. The Government is doing less of that and is, I believe, examining how they can be improved. In particular, since the appointments to the committees have not been made, I expect Government backbenchers to be generous in their praise of the Government Chief Whip, who will be keeping an eye on them to see what they are saying and what committees or positions might be fit for them. They will all get a position under the Minister of State, Deputy Tom Kitt's proposal.

In this day and age, it should be possible for a committee of this House to produce its minutes — a record of its proceedings — in a time period shorter than three months. The lowliest town council in the country can produce its minutes in a week. Most councils post their minutes on the Internet within hours of proceedings but it takes up to three months to produce the minutes in this House, with all its technical backup and resources.

It is only a matter of reorganising the resources we are applying to the committees. I do not attend committees very often because that is not my particular job in the House but when I do, I notice a glass box behind the Chairman. There is a group of people sitting inside this glass box and I do not know what they do. I could not see them do anything while I was there except look at us. I think they have something to do with the recording but I thought machines like that were automatic nowadays and would record regardless of whether people looked at them. There seems to be a group of between two and three people sitting there. Perhaps if that particular resource was applied to actually recording and producing the minutes, we would have them in a shorter period of time than three months.

I strongly suggest to the Government that we have a dedicated television channel similar to C-SPAN in the US which would broadcast the proceedings of this House and its committees and would also cover local authorities and other public service areas. This proposal has been on the agenda for a long time. When he was Chief Whip of the Workers' Party a long time ago, Deputy Pat Rabbitte was the first person I heard propose this measure. It was not rejected then and should not be rejected now and I believe the Government is seriously considering it. We should act on this proposal. We are already filming the proceedings, which is the main cost. I believe we have also been allocated 60 television slots through the satellite system for Ireland Incorporated. The Government is entitled to and may have reserved three of these for Dáil proceedings. This is a very good idea and should be acted on quickly and put into the public domain.

Reference has been made to the lower viewership. I accept that there is a lower viewership if one puts on the proceedings at 1.30 a.m. for insomniacs or people who come in from the pub and cannot sleep very well. That is about all they can see because of the time at which proceedings are broadcast. There is high viewership of the morning coverage of Leaders' Questions. Members know from their electorate that if they are included in any way in this, their electorate will see it and tell them so.

My last point is related to the proposal for a C-SPAN channel. The media in this House represents the entire media. I believe there are 60 journalists assigned to the House on a full-time or part-time basis but they are certainly here all the time. If their organisations — I am not blaming the individual reporters in the House — do not see fit to cover the proceedings of this House, we should take that into our own hands. We have the power and capacity to do so and should do so forthwith. The Gallery is evidence of a lack of interest when we are debating as serious a subject as this.

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