Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move:

That the amendments and additions to the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business contained in the Report of the sub-Committee on Dáil Reform regarding changes to Standing Orders (which was laid before the Dáil on 8th June, 2016) be adopted, with effect from the dates outlined in the report.

I welcome the opportunity to support the motion before the House to amend Dáil Standing Orders on the basis of the final report of the Sub-committee on Dáil Reform that was established on the first sitting day of this Dáil. When this Dáil met on 10 March, an all-party motion establishing the committee, which was chaired by the Ceann Comhairle, was passed. The committee was established by consensus in this House and in the main for the last nine weeks it has worked by consensus. It was tasked with reviewing the way our Parliament works and identifying a set of reforms that could and will be introduced to strengthen it. In May the committee, after a number of detailed meetings, published a draft report, which was debated in this House.

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The committee met again following debate in the House to finalise the report. The members of the committee, who came from across the House, were very conscious of the issues raised by Members in that debate when they decided on the final report. The motion before the House today is a result of the work of 19 committee members from across the parties and groups in the Dáil who, under the able and patient chairmanship of the Ceann Comhairle, worked over the last three months to review the way our Parliament works and to prepare a report which sets out, in detail, a package of reforms which I believe will radically change for the better the way the Oireachtas operates.

The motion before the House today seeks to build on the reforms introduced in the past and to work to create a parliament which is more effective and more efficient. The fact that the general election this year produced a Dáil where no one party has a majority and where this Fine Gael led partnership minority Government is committed to working in partnership with all Members of the Oireachtas means that we need a new way of doing business. As a group of 158 Deputies elected by the people, we have a duty to ensure that this Dáil works. The proposed changes will empower the Oireachtas like never before. The changes will give our Parliament a stronger voice and make Government more accountable to it.

The establishment of a Dáil business committee will give all Deputies a greater voice in the business of the Dáil and allow a fairer distribution of Dáil time between the Opposition and the sitting Government. The Dáil will establish stronger committees which will work in a better way with the Chamber. Oireachtas committee meetings and the Dáil plenary sessions will no longer clash. Oireachtas committees will now meet on Tuesday evenings and Wednesday and Thursday mornings with the Dáil sitting on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings. The new split will finally end the problem of Oireachtas committees clashing with important debates in the Dáil and Deputies being forced to choose between the two or to run up and down the corridors and stairs of the House to try and make it in time for votes.

The Dáil will enhance the legislative process in the Oireachtas. The Dáil will establish new structures for Leaders' Questions, Taoiseach's Questions, ministerial Questions and Topical Issues. The Dáil will establish a fixed time each week for taking all divisions on Thursday afternoons and Members may formally abstain in a vote which will aid in achieving more family friendly hours and working conditions in the House. These reforms are a major step in the direction of creating an Oireachtas that is stronger and more representative of the people elected to it while allowing Government to carry on the work with which it is charged.

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