Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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228. To ask the Taoiseach if he will report on his progress on reform of Dáil Éireann; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15165/15]

Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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The process of parliamentary reform is an ongoing one. The Programme for Government outlined an ambitious agenda for Dáil Reform to be introduced in a phased process over the lifetime of the Government. On foot of this, since 2011 the working of the Dáil has been steadily reformed to enhance the legislative role of elected members and improve the working of the House.

The measures introduced have included the following.

The number of Dáil sitting days has been significantly increased by reducing the length of Dáil breaks at Christmas, Easter, bank holidays and the summer and introducing regular Friday sitting days. Since 2011, the Dáil has sat 31 more days per year (33%), with an average 124 sitting days per year, than the previous Dáil, which had an average of 93 days per year.

The first phase of the Dáil Reform Programme was introduced in the summer of 2011 and included:

- An additional Leaders' Questions session on Thursdays, taken by the Tánaiste

- Topical Issues Debates to replace the outmoded Adjournment Debates so as to give Deputies an opportunity to raise issues directly with Ministers from the relevant Department

- Friday sittings to enable Deputies to play a fuller role in the legislative process by introducing their own Bills and having those Bills debated on the floor of the Dáil

-A mechanism for appeal to the Ceann Comhairle if a Deputy is unhappy with the reply received to a Parliamentary Question

-A Pre-Legislative review system where by Ministers could provide the Heads of a Bill to the Oireachtas Committee to review before the Bill was published

- Restructuring of the Oireachtas Committee system by reducing the number of Oireachtas Committees from 25 to 16

- Introducing a new Oireachtas Committee chaired by an Opposition Deputy to work with Ombudsmen's offices and review petitions.

In the summer of 2012, further reforms to the Oireachtas Committee system were introduced, which streamlined the structure and provided an additional focus on areas of priority such as Jobs and Agriculture.

In September 2013 the Government announced the second phase of Dáil Reforms and the Dáil debated and approved changes to Standing Orders in October 2013. These reforms are being phased in and include changes to allow more public involvement in the law making process:

- A Pre-Legislative Stage before an Oireachtas Committee is now a general requirement for non-emergency legislation. A Minister who does not bring a Bill to Committee for Pre-Legislative Stage is required to explain that decision to the Dáil.

- The new Pre-Legislative Stage allows for an unprecedented and extensive engagement by the public in law making. The Committee can consult with experts and civic society groups; crucially, this takes place before the legislation is drafted.

-Where there has been a Pre-Legislative Stage, the Chair or Vice Chair of the Committee has an opportunity to outline the Committee's work to the members of the Dáil during the Second Stage debate after the Minister and main opposition spokespeople have spoken on the Bill

- By 28 February 2015, Oireachtas Committees had completed 39 Pre–Legislative Stages resulting in 37 Reports and two letters being sent to sponsoring Ministers.

In addition, each year the Taoiseach and Tánaiste will address the Dáil setting out the Government’s annual priorities, with Ministers setting out their Department’s plans.

The role of Oireachtas Committees in the Budget process has also been expanded.

As a result of a set of reforms introduced to reduce the use of the guillotine, only three Bills were guillotined in the Dáil in 2014, down from 12 in 2013 and 19 in 2010. This has been achieved by reforms including a reduction in the number of Legislative Programmes to two per year increasing the time available for legislative debate in the Dáil by increasing the total number of sitting days, extending the length of sitting days and starting at 9.30 am on Wednesday and Thursdays.

The way legislation is debated in the Chamber has been improved:

- At First Stage the proposer of a Private Member’s Bill now has five minutes to outline the purpose of the Bill to the Dáil and explain the reasons for proposing it.

- Where proposed legislation has been the subject of Pre-Legislative Scrutiny, at Second Stage the Chair or Vice Chair of the Committee which considered the Bill at Pre-Legislative Stage has a speaking slot, of the same length as that of the Minister and Opposition Spokespeople, to report to the Dáil on the Committee's findings.

- At the end of the Second Stage debate, 45 minutes may be allowed for concluding remarks by Deputies, chosen by the Ceann Comhairle, who have previously spoken.

The number of Friday sittings has been expanded and the Dáil now sits every second Friday to debate Private Members' Bills and Committee Reports selected using a lottery system. The new Friday sittings also allow Committees, for the first time, to seek directly to have their own reports debated in the Dáil. This has encouraged a rapid growth in the number of Bills introduced by Deputies, from 14 published in 2010 to 53 published in 2014. 82 Private Member's Bills were debated in the four years to 6 March 2015, compared to 16 debated in the 30th Dáil, and 21 Committee Reports have been debated, compared to nine debated in the 30th Dáil.

The system of Topical Issues now requires the Minister or a Minister of State from the relevant Department to reply; if this is not the case, the Deputy who raised the issue can have it deferred until a Minister or Minister of State from that Department is available.

The time allocated to Oral Parliamentary Questions to Ministers has been standardised to 75 minutes. An ordinary Oral Question will be answered only if the Deputy tabling the Question is in the Chamber when it is reached and the Deputy is given a brief period, of 30 seconds, to outline the question.

The Government also passed the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges & Procedures) Act 2013 and the Standing Orders to establish Oireachtas Inquiry system are now in place. The Banking Inquiry is the first Oireachtas Inquiry established under this new legislation.

Dáil Reform is an ongoing process and the Government intend, in the next few months, to bring forward a further package of reforms for consideration.