Darragh O'Brien (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

The Chair would be surprised by how many people watch "Oireachtas Report". I have seen how live web casting has helped to make local government in North Dublin transparent and has improved the understanding of the public of the workings of the council. I would like the same approach to be taken by the Oireachtas.

More specifically, in regard to what was outlined by the Minister, I very much welcome the initiative of parliamentary scrutiny of EU legislation and the oversight role. I agree with the Minister that it is crucially important that the Oireachtas should scrutinise EU legislation at the earliest possible stage. As we all know, EU legislation and directives from the European Parliament have become increasingly important to Ireland and it is vital that such legislation is scrutinised in an efficient, timely and structured fashion.

I look forward to the speedy establishment of the new Oireachtas committees which will allow all Members of the House to have a real and effective input into legislation. I was interested to hear from Deputy Enright and in particular Deputy Reilly regarding his distress that committees have not been set up. It is a pity that his party, Fine Gael, delayed the establishment of these committees purely because Deputy Kenny wants to hand out a few extra jobs to some of his more senior Deputies who were promised Ministries before the election if Fine Gael were elected to Government and now has a group of backbenchers who are causing him a headache. I look forward to the House in general and particularly the Fine Gael Party agreeing with the Chief Whip to move forward and establish these committees as soon as possible so that we can get on with the work of the House.

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