Pat Moylan (Fianna Fail)

I wish to make a point to the House. On the Order of Business, Members may request clarification of the Leader's proposals for today's business or seek alterations or amendments to the times allocated. A Member may also ask about forthcoming legislation or request that the Leader provide time for a debate on a particular matter or topic. Members do not need to give a very detailed reason for requesting such a debate as that information can form part of the debate when it takes place. Contributions should be brief and to the point to enable the Chair, within a reasonable time, to facilitate any Senator wishing to ask questions on the Order of Business. We should not return to issues we discussed yesterday.

I will circulate this information to Members, in case they are not up to speed on procedures. People have been drifting totally off the point. We may be nearing the end of the session and I might be a little more lenient with people than usual but there are approximately seven minutes remaining with ten or more Senators wishing to make a point. I do not have a hope of being able to accommodate them all. Unfortunately, some Senators who may have important points to make will not be able to do so. To be fair to the Leader, I often wonder how he manages to pick out the actual point raised by Senators, given the length of some contributions.