David Norris (Independent)

-----and I had to abandon a press conference on the matter and hare across town to be on time for my debate. This does not inspire confidence, nor does the fact that at certain times of crisis the Dáil met while the Seanad continued in recess. Moreover, the public, rightly or wrongly, has the perception that the Seanad interrupts its operation to facilitate Members who wish to take part in golf competitions or attend race meetings at Cheltenham.

The classic Ding Dong Denny O'Reilly Wednesday night tit-for-tat charade also does little to help. Routinely during Private Members' debates the Government states white, the Opposition states black, a ritual vote is called, the Government inevitably wins and political honour is satisfied. However, is the public satisfied? Thank God, we did not do that tonight.

Rulings by the Chair are incontestable; at the same time they can be inconsistent and absurd. In a previous Seanad under a different Cathaoirleach I argued that a national ESB strike qualified as a matter of national importance. An hour later the Cathaoirleach of the day read out his judgment, that it was not a matter of national urgency. This happened at precisely the moment the then Taoiseach, Charles Haughey, was telling the Dáil that it was. Are we not entitled to some explanation of how these decisions are made? About six months ago there was a ruling by the Chair which appeared to be illogical and indefensible but which I had to accept on the day. However, I sought to have the matter raised at the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and understand it was. I never received an answer to my letter or any explanation of the inconsistencies in the decision. This does not foster respect for the proceedings of the House.

Regardless of whether it is our fault, we have become the butt of the humour of commentators. I regret that some of the Leader's comments have contributed to this such as the statement in the middle of the economic crisis that the spirit of the nation would be uplifted by country music or that we could solve the mathematical deficiencies of our students by awarding them extra unjustified marks in their examinations. Such infelicities are guaranteed to be pounced upon.

It is galling to listen every day to the ill-informed comments of media personalities about the proceedings of the House and the workload and remuneration of Members. Over the Christmas period I found myself working 14 to 16 hour days, rarely leaving this building until after 10 p.m. I am sure many other colleagues were in the same situation. Yet all that is assessed by some broadcasters is the time spent in the Chamber, which is like assessing the work rate of a broadcaster simply on the amount of broadcast hours and refusing to include all the ancillary items such as research, preparation etc. I shall scream if I ever again hear the tired old canard about how few people there were in the Chamber while a Minister was speaking. I would have thought broadcasters would be aware of the existence of radio and television monitors in people's offices. The taxpayer would be cheated indeed were the Chamber full to the brim on a full working day with nothing else being done except easing our senatorial bums and catching flies with half open mouths, as one regularly used to see in the broadcasts of the House of Lords. The nasty thing is, these broadcasters know the facts perfectly well but it is popular and palatable to traduce politicians in a cheap but effective manner.