asked the Minister for Industry and Energy if he will be suggesting in his proposals for Dáil reform that procedures relating to privilege in respect of statements in the House be amended.
Written Answers. - Dáil Reform.
343.
As Leader of the House, I have no proposals to take any initiative on the subject of privileged comment in this Chamber. There was no suggestion in the debate on Dáil Reform in January and February this year that this matter required special attention. If, however, the Deputy has specific proposals in mind regarding procedures relating to privileged comment in the Chamber, it is of course, open to him to submit them to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, of which I am a member, and I can assure the Deputy that they will be given full consideration in that forum. Alternatively he might like to take the matter up directly with me.
I would point out that the privilege attaching to utterances of Members in this House, as provided for in Article 15 of the Constitution, is common to most Parliaments.