Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister of State and Government Chief Whip, Deputy Kehoe, for including this issue in today's business. The other Whips and I have been engaging with the Minister of State on this matter in a constructive way and have had some useful meetings. We might not have met as extensively as may be necessary before these matters are formalised, but we have met with a sense of good will and determination to achieve reform. We accept the Minister of State's point that there have been many years of talk of reform but very little delivery. I am sure I speak for the other Whips when I say that we on this side of the House will enthusiastically support the concept of reaching a degree of agreement on this before the summer recess so that some measure of effective reform can be put in place when the House returns in September.

I am mindful that we had a similar debate some weeks ago on the issue of reform of the committee system to which Members on all sides of the House contributed. I regret to observe that very little of what was offered by Members on this side is included in the proposals for a new committee system to be established next week. If this debate is to be meaningful there must be tangible proposals from this side included in whatever package of measures on Dáil reform is eventually agreed.

I take this opportunity to pay tribute to a former Government Chief Whip, the late Séamus Brennan, who, on the basis of his 1999 document, A Dáil for the New Millennium, was the last person in that role to achieve any meaningful reform of the Oireachtas. Fianna Fáil has considered the current agenda for changes to the Dáil's work schedule and we have major concerns about the Government's intentions. In particular, we are concerned that some of the proposals could seriously damage the practical accountability of the Taoiseach to the House. The reality of three months of the largest Government majority in the history of the Dáil is that the Opposition will be further marginalised and accountability reduced unless significant reforms, especially in respect of parliamentary questions, are implemented. The efforts under way by the Government to transfer, disqualify or ignore questions are a bad omen for the working of this Dáil.

Formal changes in procedures and increased sitting days will only represent reform if the Dáil is dealing with substantive measures and if the Government respects the right of the Opposition both to ask questions and to have them answered comprehensively. The proposal from the Taoiseach and the Chief Whip of having the Dáil sit for 35 weeks per year is something of a sham and a publicity stunt. When one analyses the sittings of the House for the periods 2008-09 and 2009-10, respectively, it is shown that on both occasions it sat for 35 weeks.

We support the intention to increase sitting days but would contend that more could be done on Tuesdays. The Taoiseach has said he is willing to consider moving Cabinet meetings to Monday to enable the Dáil to operate before 2.30 p.m. We have suggested that the topical issue debate, for example, could be dealt with on Tuesday mornings. Equally, it would be possible to have Question Time before lunchtime on Tuesdays, with the Order of Business to be held in the afternoon. This would allow time for more substantive legislative sessions and other business on Tuesday afternoons and evenings.

In January 2006, Fine Gael and the Labour Party issued a joint policy document, A Ten Point Programme to Make the Dáil More Effective - Agreed Proposals by Fine Gael and Labour for Dáil Reform. It states: "Fridays should constitute real sitting days, and should include an Order of Business and Question Time." I seek clarification from the Minister of State on this matter. Fianna Fáil is supportive of extending the working week to include Fridays but only on the basis that real and meaningful business is transacted. We must not have a situation where we are treated to a series of committee reports. We want to see Question Time and legislation dealt with on Fridays.

Following the debate on committee reform we on this side of the House were chastised for not coming forward with specific proposals. On this occasion, therefore, I propose to outline our specific proposals in regard to the reform agenda. The Order of Business should deal with both future arrangements for sittings and that day's business. As such, the current rules are appropriate, with one significant change, namely, that any votes on the day's business should come after, and not before, Deputies have an opportunity to ask about intended business. Standing Order 26 should be amended to reflect this change.

All measures before the House should continue to be amenable to a vote and not limited to a single vote. The existing Standing Orders adequately allow for the Chief Whip to answer questions on Thursdays. Therefore, we do not see the need for any other changes to the duration or rules governing the Order of Business. Where it is not on the Order Paper for that week's Private Members' time, a Member should be enabled to withdraw a motion or legislation from the Order Paper at any time and in writing without having to raise it in the Chamber. This will allow for a more up-to-date Tuesday Order Paper.

The constraint which the inappropriate grouping of questions places on Deputies has got so far out of hand that even the Taoiseach has admitted that he should review his actions in this regard. This is particularly an issue where the amount of time available to individual issues is dramatically curtailed by grouping. Standing Order 40 should be amended to require that at least 24 hours' notice be given to Deputies of any intention to group a question or questions asked by them with three or more questions. In addition, Deputies should have the right to appeal to the Ceann Comhairle against such a grouping where they believe the subject matters addressed in the questions cannot reasonably be related to each other.

Regarding how Ministers answer questions - an issue that is raised in the House all the time - the programme for Government is absolutely clear in its commitment to "introduce a role for the Ceann Comhairle in deciding whether a Minister has failed to provide reasonable information in response to a question". We object strongly to the Government's attempt to back out of this commitment, especially given the tactics being used nearly every day to avoid answering questions. Priority questions are an essential tool of accountability and we do not support any amendment to current provisions relating to them. We strongly object to the proposed rule that a Member must be present when a question bearing his or her name is called. This would undermine the effective operation of accountability on the part of Opposition spokespersons and would ignore the impact which other representative business can have on Deputies at short notice.

A new Standing Order should be introduced to the effect that the Ceann Comhairle may rule that a member of the Government has failed to address a clear question asked by a Deputy. We accept it cannot be required that the answer be to the Deputy's satisfaction, but the subject matter of in order questions must at least be addressed, even where this amounts to a statement by the Minister that he or she does not wish to answer a particular question.

Standing Order 34 should be amended to ensure that a member of Government is accountable for all personal acts as a member of Government rather than those areas where he or she has administrative responsibility. It is unacceptable that the Taoiseach is refusing to answer questions about statements and meetings on the basis that another member of Government has responsibility. Standing Order 35(3) should be amended to remove the limit on repeat questions where a question has been grouped with two or more other questions. Standing Order 35(3) should be amended to reduce the repeat period to one month. If the answer is unchanged this will involve no additional cost but it avoids a situation where Ministers can fail to answer a question properly and the issue is ruled out of order for the following four months. Standing Order 35(6) should be removed as an unreasonable limit on the ability of Deputies to get direct answers to serious issues if those issues are being dealt with by way of debates at the same time. Standing Order 42 should be amended to add the words "or matters raised during the course of the reply of the member of government" after "information requested". This will formally acknowledge the right of Deputies to respond when a member of Government raises side issues in replies.

We strongly oppose moving away from the holding of two separate sessions for questions to the Taoiseach. The experience from the United Kingdom is that this has led to a major diminution of the accountability of the Prime Minister. The more fundamental issue is not reducing the sessions but ensuring the Taoiseach shows some commitment to answering the questions asked. Standing Order 37 should be amended so Members may request that any matter not reached at the end of questions to the Taoiseach on Wednesday be answered in writing. We do not support other changes in this area. In line with the proposed change to Standing Order 34, the Taoiseach should cease transferring questions that directly relate to his official actions.

Private Members' time should continue to have a reasonable priority in scheduling. We do not support moving its start times any later than the current arrangement. Given that Government is entitled to bring matters to a vote after less than three hours of debate, the Opposition should be entitled to bring up separate matters on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, providing that a motion be required before a matter is brought to a vote following less than three hours' debate. Where a motion or Bill is handled in this way, speaking slots should be adjusted to ensure fair speaking opportunities on both evenings.

We strongly support the move from the traditional Adjournment debate to having debates on topical issues in the Chamber. We had some useful engagement with the Government Chief Whip and the other Whips on how this might be handled. We have submitted proposals in this regard. These topical issues should be dealt with on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. It is essential that the relevant Ministers are present in the Chamber to address these matters. We will seek assurances from the Government that this will take place. We concur with the outline of how this will be dealt with - five minutes for the question, a five-minute response and supplementary questions for three minutes.

We support a longer and more productive working week. We want to see reform and we are agreed in principle that agreement must be reached before the summer recess so the measures can be introduced in September. Having reached agreement on a set of initial reforms, the option should exist for Whips, parties and Members to participate in a review of the amended arrangements after six months. We can then evaluate how effective the arrangements are and whether they provide the opportunity for this House to be more workmanlike, productive and effective.

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