I move:
That the Clerk of the Seanad be and is hereby authorised to compile and issue, in respect of the year 1945, a return or returns showing:—
1. the number of days on which the Seanad sat for the transaction of public business;
2. the number of attendances made by each member of the House;
3. the number of Bills which were—
(a) submitted to the House, and
(b) passed or accepted by the House;
4. the number of Bills amended in the Seanad, and
(a) the number of such amendments inserted in each Bill, and
(b) the number of such amendments accepted by the Dáil;
5. the number of divisions taken in the House and in Committee of the whole House;
6. the number of divisions in which each member participated and the number of divisions in which each member failed to participate;
7. the number of motions debated, distinguishing between—
(a) Government motions, and
(b) Members' motions;
8. the number of occasions on which each member participated by formal speech in debate, and the total number of columns of the Official Debates occupied by the speeches of each member.
I do not think that this motion requires very much explanation. It seems to me that its purpose should be quite clear. The purpose behind the motion is simply to have made up, officially, by the officers of this House, a return of the proceedings and transactions of the House. There is nothing unusual in that except that, of course, I should say that such returns have not been made up, so far as I know, in any official manner in this House heretofore. I have a recollection, however, that on occasions material much similar to what is asked for here was used and has been used in public in relation to the transactions of this House. I think it is true to say that individual members of this House are constructing this information for themselves and using it outside, and I feel that if that is to be done, it should be done officially and should be presented to the House by the officers of the House—the Clerk of the Seanad, and so on. It is the practice in many legislative assemblies to have a return each year of the work done. That was the practice of the Dáil up to the emergency—not quite in the form which this motion seeks, but in a more elaborate form. I have here a copy of the Order Paper of Dáil Eireann for 8th February, 1939, and it contains no less than six motions, moved by the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. The first motion asks that there should be laid before the Dáil a return showing with reference to 1938, the number of days on which the House sat, and so forth, also referring to the number of hours devoted to different business, such as the Estimates for Public Services, and so on. It really runs into two pages of the official return of Dáil Eireann. My point is that a motion similar to this was moved year after year in that House, until about 1940. So far as I know, an almost similar motion has been moved during the last four or five years, and I understand that the practice was only dropped as a result of the emergency conditions, but that I do not know. However, the common practice in legislative assemblies is to ask for a return of the business transacted during the year and how the various decisions were reached.
The House will remember that on the last day we met members of this House were appointed to the Joint Committee on Privileges. It seems to me that that Committee should ask for some information as to how the business of the House was transacted, and I want to say that my primary purpose in asking for this motion to be taken to-night is to ensure that the return shall be made by the House itself, and that we should not have to wait for the Joint Committee to do so. Of course, such a return as this is very easily compiled. I have not heard any objection, from those in a position to judge, that there will be any difficulty in compiling the information. As a matter of fact, any member of the House can compile the information for himself, if he spends the necessary time on it, but we are not prepared to accept a return compiled by a member of the House, possibly, for his own benefit. It seems to me to be obvious that if this thing is to be done at all, it should be done in a proper manner and with official sanction. I see that there is an amendment on the Order Paper to this motion. I have no objection to the amendment, but I do not think it is related to the motion at all. I have no objection to the amendment being taken, but I want to draw attention to the fact that this is a proposal to get information as to the work done, and nothing else. I do not want to occupy the time of the House discussing a matter like this. The motion has been on the Order Paper, I think, almost two months. It should be clearly understood, and I think its implications are known. I want to emphasise, however, that I have no personal interest in having this return made. I could easily compile such a return for myself. I simply want to ensure that if such a return is to be made and used, it should be a return made officially and to the order of this House.