Vol. 427 No. 3
I move:
That it is expedient that the Standing Joint Committee on Consolidation Bills be appointed;
That the Chairman of the Joint Committee shall have only one vote; and
That all questions in the Joint Committee shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting and in the event of there being an equality of votes the question shall be decided in the negative.
How does this committee relate to the proposed legislation committees that the Government intends to set up to deal with the Committee Stages of routine Bills? There seems to be some measure of duplication if we are to have a special committee dealing with consolidation Bills which could come under any of the headings of the four business committees, separate from the committees themselves. Would it not be more appropriate for one or other of the business committees to perform this function?
This, I take it, refers to consolidation Bills.
It is my understanding that it is a business committee of the House. Under current Standing Orders, if a consolidation Bill is being introduced it has to be referred to one of those committees. However, in view of what Deputy Bruton has said, we will examine that. We do not have to set up the committee now.
When does the Minister of State expect that the four committees to deal with the various Committee Stages of Bills will, in fact, be in place?
I would hope that they would be in place in the very near future. The Whips will be discussing the matter tomorrow and as soon as possible after that discussion they will be set up.
