Arising from the exchanges on the Order of Business yesterday concerning the reasons given by my office for the disallowance of Private Notice Questions and Standing Order 31 matters, I am glad to have this opportunity to clarify matters. My office inadvertently referred to the Taoiseach's announcement as a statement when conveying the reasons for the disallowance, and the resulting confusion is regretted. However, in doing so I must stress that my ruling on the Standing Order 31 matters and Private Notice Questions was not affected by whether the Taoiseach chose to make a statement or an announcement. My ruling that the issue was more appropriate to a substantive motion was correct and both my predecessor and I have ruled on many occasions that allegations against an officeholder can only be dealt with by substantive motion and not by exchanges across the floor of the House. I should point out that a motion under Standing Order 31 is a motion to adjourn the House. It is not a substantive motion.
Another matter raised concerned the clearing of the Press Gallery yesterday. I received a report on this matter. It has been the long established practice that the Public Gallery and the Press Gallery are cleared where the Dáil is suspended in circumstances of disorder, when a Member who has been named refuses to leave the House. In other circumstances, where the Dáil is suspended for a short duration, for example, where a Minister is delayed in arriving for Question Time, the galleries would not normally be cleared. Yesterday, due to a misunderstanding, the practice was initiated as it was thought Deputy Rabbitte had been named and was refusing to leave, which was not the case. This is regretted and I am putting in place procedures to ensure that such a misunderstanding will not recur.