Seanad debates
Wednesday, 9 October 2002
Sub-Committee of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges: Motion.
In terms of the dignity of this House, it is necessary to accept legislation from sources other than the Government benches. In order to facilitate this, there should be some sifting mechanism so that the House can decide at an early stage that it is presented with a serious Bill which addresses a significant issue. Once the legislative proposal passes that hurdle, expertise should be made available to the person or group wishing to produce the Bill. As it stands, we do not have access to draftspersons and we should have such access. If we have serious proposals, we should be allowed to put them in a professional form so they can be placed before the House with some hope of success.
No comments