Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)
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For the information of Members of the House, the 24th Seanad was up and running in four weeks, only four days after the Taoiseach's nominees were announced. This compares with eight weeks in 2002 and seven weeks in 2007. It is a major improvement on previous years and I hope we can make many improvements to the way we do our business in the weeks and months ahead.

I propose that the Seanad will sit until 23 July or, more than likely, to 30 July and return on 14 September, approximately. This is a significant reduction in the holiday period compared with previous years. There is a need for further improvement in the years ahead.

The Seanad will sit on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of each week and on Friday where necessary. It is my intention to notify the House in advance of legislation and reports so that the House can debate them a number of weeks beforehand. When Members were in opposition, they requested a number of times that this be the case. I intend to give Senators more time for precise, researched, objective and intelligent contributions on debates. This opportunity will be welcomed by all Members. It may not always be possible to give notice of legislation weeks in advance, but we on this side of the House will strive to do so where possible.

Senators can see that a number of Bills will be restored to the Order Paper, one of which will be debated tomorrow, namely, the Criminal Justice (Female Genital Mutilation) Bill 2011. This Bill is similar to that which Senator Bacik introduced in the House some time ago. It is appropriate that the legislation in question should commence its journey through the Houses of the Oireachtas in this Chamber. Other legislation which will be debated in the coming weeks includes the Finance (No. 2) Bill, the Ministers and Secretaries (Amendment) Bill 2011, the Social Welfare and Pensions Bill - which must be signed by the President by 30 June - the Welfare of Greyhounds Bill and a number of Bills dealing with the EU-IMF programme and certain financial matters.

A number of reports have been published by various agencies in recent times. I intend to make time available for debates relating to some of these reports in the coming weeks. Senator van Turnhout has requested a debate on the fourth report of the special rapporteur on child protection and I intend to make time available for that next week. I also hope to make time available for debates on the report of the independent review of employment regulation orders and the report of the inspector of prisons in the coming weeks. The Seanad comprises people who possess knowledge of and practical experience in a wide range of areas. I look forward to hearing excellent contributions from all Members in the coming months.

Reports on Seanad reform deal predominantly with how the House is elected. I want to reform the House but I have no monopoly on wisdom with regard to how we should do our business or how we might improve the way in which we operate. I have an open mind on the issue and I would welcome suggestions from Members on all sides. My door will always be open in that regard.

I suggest that bringing in people from outside, such as European commissioners, to address the House and take questions would be a good development. Matters such as this will obviously have to be discussed by the Committee on Procedure and Privileges. However, it is an issue in respect of which I also have an open mind.

I hope to circulate the rota for Private Members' time in the coming week. I can confirm that it will be Fianna Fáil's Private Members' time next week. When all the groupings have been finalised, I will be in a position to allocate the other slots. I understand that the Independents nominated by the Taoiseach intend to form a group of their own. I welcome this move because it will afford these individuals designated speaking slots and enable them to make a greater contribution to the House.