As responsibility for preserving order and thereby the dignity and decorum of the House is in the hands of the Chair, I feel that I must speak seriously to Members about recent behaviour in the Chamber which detracts from its standing and, indeed, tends to bring it into public disrepute.
Both the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and I have been made the subject of utterly groundless charges of bias in what seems to be a mounting campaign. The disorder is compounded by open defiance of the Chair's rulings.
The most recent example of this misbehaviour occurred yesterday during Question Time when the Leas-Cheann Comhairle was subjected to extensive abuse and defiance. Unfortunately, I was absent at the Council of State meeting and did not return to the Chair for some hours. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle felt then that in view of the lapse of time the matter should be treated as closed.
While I now give fair warning to offending Members that the Chair will in future defend itself from unwarranted attacks and will invoke Standing Orders to deal with disorder, I would appeal to Members' sense of responsibility to co-operate with the Chair so as to ensure that this House —the supreme legislative chamber of our land—can transact its business with the dignity and high level of debate appropriate to it.
