Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

A Leas-Cheann Comhairle, i dtús báire, ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a ghabháil leatsa, as do phost nua. Go n-éirí go geal leat san phost.

I welcome this opportunity to address the role of committees in the 31st Dáil and in the Oireachtas generally. These statements are timely in that they come before the Government decides what committees it will establish and what the composition of those committees will be. I was somewhat sceptical about the proposition to hold this discussion because it can only be a useful exercise if the Government listens and takes on board the experience, views and concerns of Deputies, especially those who have served in previous Dáileanna and who have participated in the committee structure. They have much to share and it is important that their points are taken on board.

In the 30th Dáil I was in the unique position of being my party spokesperson on health and children while being deliberately — I use the word "deliberately" advisedly — denied full membership of the Oireachtas joint and select committees on health and children. I was the only party spokesperson to be so excluded. The previous Taoiseach, but one, refused to accord me and, more importantly, the people and the party I represent, the right to membership of those committees. That was factually the position that applied post the general election of 2007. It was a right earned through hard and consistent work on issues relating to health and children since I was first elected in 1997, something many who are familiar with my role in regard to such matters would acknowledge, irrespective of party differences.

I have no hesitation in pointing out that the exclusion at the time of Sinn Féin from the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children was for purely party political reasons. That is not my assumption. That fact was shared with me by members of the then Taoiseach's party.

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