Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

They are not; certainly not by the Government. As Deputy Stagg pointed out, everyone on the Government side of the House will have a position. Therefore, they will be happy.

I do not know who designed LH2000 or what input the Government had, but the location of the committee rooms is indicative of the Government's attitude towards the committees, although there have been exceptions. I was a member of the committee set up following the CC case, the Joint Committee on Child Protection, which was chaired by Deputy Peter Power who did a great job. We got things done and one felt one's contributions were constructive and would achieve something but that has not been the experience on many other committees which are important and have work to do. The main problem is that if a committee agrees on something, nothing will happen.

Deputy Calleary was reluctant to go down the road of television coverage of the Dáil because it would be a stick with which to beat us but that is an occupational hazard when one enters politics. Therefore, why not? I would not expect the ratings to be fantastic or people to take days off work to watch the Dáil. However, it is a facility that should be available to them. There is also the timing of politics-related programmes. I know this is not something the Government Chief Whip or the Ceann Comhairle can change, but if people are interested in and want to participate in politics, showing programmes such as "The Week in Politics" and "Questions and Answers" at 11 p.m. or 11.30 p.m. will not achieve the objective. It does not allow people an opportunity to watch because, in the first place, by that stage many will have gone to bed, or are elderly. This is an issue that needs to be addressed in order that people can better participate. Practically everything is televised in the United States; even local community meetings are available on local channels. This gives people a far better opportunity to participate and see what is going on. I would like to see the work being done here in the Dáil and Seanad Chambers televised in order that people may better participte in the political process.

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