It is proposed to take Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4 and also to take the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill which will be passed by the Dáil in the course of the day. No. 1 is the Order for the Second Stage of a Bill introduced to the Seanad. No. 2 is the Exchange Control (Continuence) Bill which it is necessary to pass before the end of the year in order to continue exchange control. No. 3 is the Courts (No. 3) Bill which must be passed also today in order to deal with the position in regard to summonses. The Appropriation Bill must be passed in order to allow money to issue from 1 January onwards. I understand that the Dáil will be taking the Income Tax (Amendment) Bill from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. and my recommendation is that we interrupt business at 3 p.m. in this House in order to take that legislation so that the Seanad will have an opportunity of examining the legislation before the Dáil has actually adjourned.
I would like on this last sitting day to make a few remarks about the sittings of the House during the past year. Senators will note in the upper left hand corner of today's Order Paper the number 78. This is an indication that this House has sat in 1986 on 78 days, the largest number of sitting days ever in a calendar year by the Seanad and indeed it is 15 more days than the previous highest figure. Towards the end of the year, the work of the Seanad has been such that, on my reckoning, since the Summer Recess the Dáil sat for 28 days and the Seanad sat for 28 days. I do not know if this reflects a determination on the part of the Seanad to sit more often than the Dáil in 1987. The nature of the Seanad work has shown an acceleration in 1986 of a tendency that was there for a few years previously.
In the past, in a year there might or there might not be one Bill introduced in the Seanad and passed through the Seanad to the Dáil, sometimes none. In 1986, eight Bills were introduced in the Seanad and dealt with by the Seanad before being dealt with in the Dáil.
In regard to the question of motions, looking back to the year 1980 there were 18 motions debated by the Seanad. In the year 1986 there were 64 motions debated by the Seanad. I want to say something further than that; it is not only a question of statistics and numbers.
I would like to pay tribute to the Senators who have taken part in that work for the manner in which they have done so. We have had in the past year some notable debates on legislation of great importance. I can think of the debates on the Clinical Trials Bill, the Status of Children Bill at Committee Stage, the National Monuments Bill and on many other Bills. The Seanad had debated these matters with a thoroughness that does indeed demand commendation and it is a comfort to us that whatever the outside world may think of us, we ourselves in Seanad Éireann can feel that we have done a good year's work and that we have fulfilled our constitutional role in a manner that is beyond criticism. I would like to thank the Senators for all they have contributed. I would like to thank the members of the Seanad staff for all they have contributed to this work and also the staff of the Joint Houses of the Oireachtas and those members of the Press and Telefís Éireann who have reported our proceedings.
