The second item on the agenda is procedure generally. The procedure I am informed is to be as follows: First, the Standing Orders provide that rules for procedure in the Dáil shall apply to procedures in Special Committees except that, as in committee of the whole Dáil, a Member may speak more than once on the same subject. Secondly, divisions shall be taken by the clerk of the committee calling the names of the Members and, in the event of there being an equality of votes, the question shall be decided in the negative. The Chairman shall have one vote only and shall not have a casting vote. Thirdly, there is provision for substitutes. In the event of a Member being unable to attend, he or she can nominate a substitute to attend and that substitute will have the same voting rights as the Members present. Fourthly, in relation to the press and visitors, meetings of the committee are held in public unless the committee decide otherwise. Private meetings may be held for discussion purposes. That is a matter for the committee to decide.
Before we proceed to the consideration of the Bill, it might be worth-while, in view of the considerable number of amendments tabled, to take a little time to consider how we should conduct our business, for example, to decide on the frequency of meetings, whether we should structure our meetings to take different Parts of the Bill on different days. Have Members any view on that?
