John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 30 to 33, inclusive, together. I welcome this opportunity to answer these question and to speak on some issues which are often raised at the Order of Business with the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste.

The Government established a working group on Dáil reform in 2009, comprising the Minister for Transport, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Senator Boyle and my predecessor as Government Chief Whip, Deputy Carey. Following a number of meetings, this group submitted a set of proposals to the Cabinet for discussion and agreement.

Upon my appointment as Chief Whip, I examined the relevant documentation on this issue and I look forward to holding bilateral meetings with the various party representatives in the coming weeks, with a view to seeing where realistic progress can be made. Reform of the Dáil procedures has long been a matter of contention and debate in the House. The last significant reform was made during the tenure of the late Seamus Brennan, when he was in my current position. In reviewing the documentation, I was struck by how debate on the reform of the Dáil procedures is often confused with the wider discussion on electoral reform. The Government has a range of policy initiatives on this issue, and they are being guided by the Minister for Environment, Heritage and Local Government.

There are some simple and necessary reforms to Dáil procedures upon which most members of the House would agree. The principal issue among these is the need to reform the manner in which the Order of Business is conducted on a daily basis. The Order of Business lasted for almost an hour and 20 minutes last Thursday. This is a waste of valuable time which could be set aside for the discussion of legislation before the House. The Government has brought forward what I believe are sensible proposals for the reform of how we conduct the Order of Business. These proposals are balanced and give the opportunity for the Opposition to make their reservations and concerns known about the ordering of the given day's business, without it descending into what was described as a "farce" last week.

The achievement of consensus by all parties on the wider set of Government proposals will require significant political goodwill. The Government's proposals were an honest effort to make the working of this House more relevant and more efficient. The proposals set out a new Dáil schedule which would better reflect the normal working day, while they also accommodate some of the key concerns set out by the Opposition parties in the various policy documents they have released on this issue.

I look forward to all my counterparts displaying that political good-will over the coming weeks as I hold bilateral meetings with them to identify where agreement is possible on reforming the procedures of this House. The outcome of these meetings will define the timescale for progress.

We can have all the rules and regulations we like, but it is about how we implement them. I am fairly new to this position and I would like to express my gratitude to the Opposition Whips who meet with me every week to try to schedule the business. There is real co-operation at those meetings to accommodate the Government's legislative proposals, as well as the debates called by Members of this House.

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