Joe O'Toole (Independent)

A number of speakers on Second Stage asked about the running of the Houses. We could have approached this issue in two ways. Most other parliaments have introduced commissions which divide immediately into two parts. One part deals with the matters provided for in this Bill and the other does the work currently done by the Committees on Procedure and Privileges. I guarantee that the Minister of State cannot indicate where the responsibility of the Committees on Procedure and Privileges ends and the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission begins. What happens if the commission takes a decision which is accepted by one committee but opposed by the other? Having sat simultaneously on both the commission and the Seanad committee, I have experience of having to take different perspectives on issues depending on the forum in which they were discussed.

It is nonsense but Members do not want to lose the committees' powers because they want to hold onto to their empires and fiefdoms. The commission regularly takes decisions which impinge on the committees. The members of the Dáil committee never notice because they are not that bright but the Seanad committee always notices when lines are crossed. One body should be in charge. The Dáil committee never causes problems for anybody but we are different.