Dáil debates

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

11:00 am

Photo of Enda KennyEnda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

To enable the referenda to be held, the Bills must be processed by a date in September. I hope they will be published as soon as possible and that there will be an opportunity to engage in a thorough discussion, a point on which I have been clear. When we come back in September, there will be changes to the structure of Dáil reform. There will be discussions about that either this week or next week with Opposition leaders to implement changes to make this place more efficient and professional but, in advance of that, in one or two cases, Ministers will refer the heads of Bills to the appropriate Oireachtas committee for political reaction and discussion. That has never happened. When heads of Bills are drafted and circulated, they stay inside the circle until the Bill is published. The Ceann Comhairle, in a previous existence, was always clear that there should be an opportunity for Oireachtas committees to give a reflection from a political perspective on the heads of Bills when they are drafted. That will happen from September in every case but it will happen in a number of cases before then. Oireachtas committees will be consulted and the Members can give their views - good bad or indifferent - about the proposals contained in the heads. In the next week, the Government Chief Whip will meet Opposition leaders and Whips about a range of changes in the way the Dáil works but, in advance of that, the heads of some Bills will be referred to Oireachtas committees for their consideration.

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