Mary O'Rourke (Fianna Fail)

I support what my colleague, Senator Mansergh, said. Understandably, he got angry and I do not blame him. The Minister of State will remember that we debated this point last week on Second Stage. As Senator Ryan said, not only is the Clerk of the Seanad a member of other bodies but she is also a member of the body which surveys the boundary commission and decides the way constituencies will fare under the new system. The current incumbent happens to be a lady but that is neither here nor there. It is about the position of Clerk of the Seanad.

I understood this commission was all about us, the Members of the Dáil and the Seanad, the running of the Houses in a businesslike way, having control of their own budgets, being able to work out what they will do with that money and how they will best run the Houses of the Oireachtas. This so-called omission of the Clerk of the Seanad from the make up of the commission was not a mistake. On the contrary, whoever came up with the idea deliberately left out a civil servant from the Seanad of the membership. It was a case of, "We don't have to do that and we will not do it because the excellent Clerk of the Dáil will do". He is an excellent Clerk of the Dáil but the Minister now tells us he is the Secretary General of the commission and will be acting in that capacity. It is even more important, therefore, that there is a member from the Seanad on the commission. It is a deliberate affront to this House that the Clerk of the Seanad is not included among the members of the commission.