I move:
That the following be adopted as an additional Standing Order of Dáil Éireann relative to Public Business—
46A. A private member's motion which is not moved within twelve months from the date on which it was first placed on the Order Paper shall be deemed to have lapsed, but without prejudice to the right of members to put down such motion again.
The proposal which is before the House today continues a process, which began in the last Dáil, of improving and updating the Dáil Order Paper in order to make it more relevant to the business which is before the House.
This process began when the Committee on Procedure and Privileges, in March, 1986, approved new arrangements for the printing of Private Members' motions so as to reduce the number of such motions appearing daily on the Order Paper. At that time, although only one Private Members' motion was debated by the Dáil each week, as many as 50 motions appeared on every issue of the Order Paper.
The arrangements which the CPP approved in 1986 were a combination of two previous systems which had been in operation. Prior to 1962, a Private Members' motion appeared on the Order Paper only once before it was placed on a special list, which was updated at specified intervals and circulated to Members.
Motions were taken in order of their receipt and when the time came for a motion to be debated in Private Members' time it appeared again on the Order Paper, accompanied by a reference to the list from which it was taken.
In 1962, this system was changed because of the possibility that when motions were debated in order of receipt, a Member could put down any number of them and thereby monopolise Private Members' Business for some considerable time. The new arrangement, under which priority was given to groups — as defined by Standing Orders — was seen as an improvement in the situation which had applied up to then. It resulted however in a large number of Private Members' motions — none of which were likely to be taken in the foreseeable future — appearing daily on the Dáil Order Paper.
In March 1986, the Committee on Procedure and Privileges considered this subject again and approved new arrangements, which combined the best aspects of both the pre-1962 and post-1962 formats. Under these new arrangements, at the beginning of every two months — excluding periods when the Dáil is in recess — a list containing all Private Members' motions, other than those given precedence, is published.
It was felt at the time that some provision should be made for the automatic lapse of motions on the list which are no longer of relevance. In this regard, of the 55 items which are on the current list, only 14 were put down within the last six months.
The proposal before the House today provides a mechanism to remove such motions.
This motion has the approval of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges and I trust that Deputies will support it.