Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the Deputy commenced his contribution, I thought the Members from Cork were going to stick together at all costs. I thank him for his comments. There are two aspects to the work of the committees. The first of these relates to dealing with legislation. Select committees consider Bills that are presented to them on Committee Stage, while the heads of Bills can be sent to joint committees for their consideration and then referred back to the Government. The second aspect relates to committees holding hearings or receiving presentations from groups - be they those which represent fishermen, pensioners, young people or whomever - from throughout the country. From the perspective of committees, this is where their power actually lies. Committee Stage is the most important of all Stages because it is at that point that legislation is teased out on a line-by-line basis.

When the heads of a Bill are prepared, the Minister involved will bring them before Government for its approval. Those heads, which are general in nature, will then be sent to the relevant committee to be considered from a political, social and national perspective. That committee will seek information to assist it in its deliberations and will call before it experts, interested individuals, organisations, advocacy groups, etc. The problem which arises relates to the amount of time available to committees to allow them to do all of this in the period within which the Dáil is actually going to be in session. Separate from this work, a committee may be involved in compiling reports on gambling, alcohol or whatever and it will be obliged to hold other hearings so that it might engage with interested groups and organisations. The members of a committee can contribute to the debate on legislation on Second Stage, Committee Stage and again in the pre-enactment stage.

There is a requirement to structure business in a better way. The main forum of the Dáil is used for the taking of Leaders' Questions, Topical Issues, etc., and we need to focus on achieving the best results from the way in which we conduct our business. I am of the view that the real effect of what is proposed will be the creation of a really strengthened and well-resourced committee system. Under that new system, the chairs of committees will be allocated on the basis of the d'Hondt mechanism. Those who will be appointed as chairmen will have the opportunity ask, "What do we want to do here?" When proposed legislation is passed, some committees may be required to hold parliamentary inquiries regarding issues of major national importance. I do not believe we can squash all of this business in between 2 p.m. - when we currently commence business - to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays, 10.30 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Wednesdays and 10.30 a.m. to 5.45 p.m. on Thursdays. We must, therefore, consider the number of hours the Dáil sits each week and how this time can be divided in an effective manner. I attended in the European Parliament this morning, where most speakers have 90 seconds in which to contribute on a given subject. Other speakers are allowed two minutes of speaking time and those who are given very long extensions are able to speak for three minutes and 30 seconds before being cut off. The message there appears to be, "Say it in a short period or don't say it at all".

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