Joe O'Toole (Independent)

The headline about people going on holidays should be hit hard on the head. Committees will continue to work in this House until the end of this month at least and will resume in September. The idea that people will not work when they are away from here is extraordinary.

It is time to be proactive about this issue and make it clear that it is wrong to think that elected representatives should spend all their time in the Houses of Parliament. Nothing is more assured to put people out of touch with their constituents. There should be a rule that nobody would spend more than 50% of his or her time in the Houses, and the other 50% with his or her constituents. We should discuss this in the autumn. It is, however, extraordinary that we should break for 82 days. The year should be split up in a different and better way and we should discuss that another day.

The work of the Clerk and the Clerk Assistant on committees and sub-committees, and the business of the House is unknown to most of us. The myriad committees on which the Clerk sits as part of her role is not fully understood. It would be useful for people to see the list of those committees. The same applies to the Clerk Assistant who deals with internal committees.

My final words are for the extraordinary work of the Office of the Editor of Debates. I have said it before, but I will say it again, I am convinced that the work done by that office in these Houses of Parliament is ahead of that in any European counterpart. To be able to log onto the Internet tomorrow morning, or 12 hours after a debate, and find a report of proceedings is an extraordinary development for which we should be eternally grateful. It makes our job a great deal easier.