Derek McDowell (Labour)

I echo what others have said but would like to take it a little further. It seems the order handed down to us does not, effectively, recognise the position and the role of Senators on the committees. It is right that the number of Deputies on legislative committees should be fixed; to reflect the balance in the other House, that must be the case. Senators attend merely to make an input, to discuss, to debate and to hold to account chief executives of State bodies and others. They do not have a role in terms of legislation so it does not matter whether there are four or six Senators on a committee. During my time in these Houses I have not been at a committee meeting at which there were too many Members so as to make it unwieldy. That does not happen.