Prior to 2012 Oireachtas debates were published with column numbers included throughout the text. These column numbers reflected the two-column layout on each page of the bound volume of the Official Report. Column numbers were regularly included within academic citations.
When the Oireachtas debates went online in the early 2000s column numbers were retained within the online text. Since 2012, however, the use of column numbers ceased within the Official Report.
Akoma Ntoso XML
The redevelopment of the Oireachtas website in 2017/2018 involved a thorough review of the data formats being published on our website with a view to aligning to international standards. All of our Debates data has been aligned to an international XML standard for parliamentary data called Akoma Ntoso. This ensures users of our open data APIs can work with valid, structured data.
Need to find a column reference? Go to the Oireachtas debates archive
Last updated: 20 November 2019