Laying of Documents before the Houses of the Oireachtas Frequently Asked Questions

1. Where can I find official guidance on the procedures for laying documents?

2. What is meant by laying a document?

3. What documents are laid before the Houses?

4. What does 'Laying documents before the Houses of the Oireachtas' entail?

5. What is the procedure if a Department urgently needs to lay a document after 5:30pm on a late night sitting of the Houses and requires the title of that document to appear on the next days Order Paper/s?

6. To whom should queries in relation to the laying of documents be addressed?

7. Who can sign the covering form?

8. What happens to documents when they are laid?

9. Why does the form refer to URLs?

10. If the Act states a specific number of sitting days within which the House may annul the document (e.g. 21 days) how will the Department know when this period has expired?

11. Can documents be laid when there is not a statutory requirement to do so?

12. Can documents be laid during dissolution of the Dáil prior to a General Election?

13. Can Documents be laid electronically?


1: Where can I find official guidance on the procedures for laying documents?
Procedures to be followed by Government Departments are set out in Appendix V of the Cabinet Handbook which is available on the Department of the Taoiseach’s website

2: What is meant by laying a document?
According to the Standing Orders of Dáil Éireann (SO 176) and Seanad Éireann (SO 158) a document is deemed to have been laid on the delivery of a copy of the document to the relevant Clerk for that purpose. As the Clerks of both Houses have assigned responsibility for managing all procedures relating to the laying of documents to the Library & Research Service, a document is also deemed to have been laid once it has been delivered to the Library & Research Service.
Note: all documents laid before the Dáil or Seanad are public documents (see Standing Orders above)

3: What documents are laid before the Houses?
Documents to be laid may be classified generally as follows:

  • documents laid in obedience to a statute or in pursuance of an order of one or both Houses of the Oireachtas
  • (a) documents relating to matters likely to be the subject of subsequent legislation (b) documents which are regarded for other reasons as necessary or of advantage to Members of the Dáil/Seanad in connection with the discharge of their duties as Members.

4: What does 'Laying documents before the Houses of the Oireachtas' entail?
The Department forwards 6 copies of the document, together with 2 completed copies of the standard covering forms to the Clerk of each House (marked for the attention of the Acquisitions & Documents Laid Team, Library & Research Service) at Leinster House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. If the document is to be laid before one House only, 6 copies of the document and 1 completed covering form should be forwarded to the Clerk of that House. An electronic version of the covering form in Word format is available here in Foirm maidir le Doiciméid Leagthaand Documents Laid form

Delivery of Documents - Documents to be laid can be sent by post or hand delivered.

All documents sent by post should be addressed to:

           Support & Documents Laid Team
           Library & Research Service
           Houses of the Oireachtas
           Leinster House
           Kildare St.
           Dublin 2

For documents to be delivered by hand, please ensure that the person delivering the documents comes directly to the offices of the Library & Research Service which are located on the 4th Floor of Kildare House Extension (also known as the Statoil Building). The entrance is located at No 1, Setanta Place, off Kildare St., Dublin 2. They should not go to Leinster House. On request, the bearer will immediately be given an acknowledgment slip.

View the location of the Library & Research Services offices on Google Maps

Please Note: documents to be laid before the Houses must not be published until after they have been laid; to do so is a serious infringement of parliamentary privilege

5: What is the procedure if a Department urgently needs to lay a document after 5:30pm on a late night sitting of the Houses and requires the title of that document to appear on the next days Order Paper/s?
The document should be delivered to the Reading Room of the Oireachtas Library & Research Service in Leinster House as soon as possible where the staff on duty will ensure that the relevant procedure is carried out.
Contact number for staff on late duty in Reading Room is(01) 6184701

6: To whom should queries in relation to the laying of documents be addressed?
Queries should be addressed to a member of the Acquisitions & Documents Laid Team. Contact details as follows:

7: Who can sign the covering form?
Whoever is assigned to do so by the Department in question.

8: What happens to documents when they are laid?
The title of each document is listed, in English and Irish, on the next Order Paper to be published. In this way they are brought to the attention of Members of the Oireachtas. The covering forms are checked and if there are any omissions/errors the relevant Department is notified. Documents are acknowledged to the Stationery Office and the Department and are immediately catalogued.

9: Why does the form refer to URLs?
The Library & Research Service is interested to record the URL or predicted electronic location of a document once it has been laid. In many cases, departments and other organisations make these documents available on their websites. If you intend publishing the document on your website, please indicate the URL address on the form.

10: If the Act states a specific number of sitting days within which the House may annul the document (e.g. 21 days) how will the Department know when this period has expired?
When the relevant period has expired a notice to this effect will be forwarded to the Department.

11: Can documents be laid when there is not a statutory requirement to do so?
Yes – these are known as ‘non-statutory’ documents. N/A [Not Applicable] should be entered in answer to Q4 on the covering form.

12: Can documents be laid during dissolution of the Dáil prior to a General Election?
Yes. The advice given by the Clerk of the Dáil during the dissolution of the Dáil in 1965 was that “Documents continue to be accepted for laying during dissolution. Reasons include a) Seanad is not dissolved, b) the Oireachtas is a continuing body.” The titles for all documents laid during dissolution will appear on the first Order Papers published after a general election.
Note: In respect of documents laid before dissolution of the Dáil that have interrupted statutory periods, the titles for these documents will re-appear on the first Dáil Order Paper published after a general election under the heading “Document titles contained in previous Order Papers with statutory periods unexpired”.

 13: Can Documents be laid electronically?
Yes, Please contact docslaid@oireachtas.ie or 01 6184823 for further details.