Houses of the Oireachtas Commission publishes 2016 Annual Report

The reporting period includes the general elections for both Houses of the Oireachtas in 2016, the beginning of the 32nd Dail and 25th Seanad, and 102 new members joining the Houses: 60 new Deputies (representing 38% of the Dáil) and 42 new Senators (representing 70% of the Seanad).

Parliamentary services continue to be delivered more efficiently and effectively, ensuring maximum value for the use of taxpayers’ money. Expenditure for running the Houses of the Oireachtas last year was €116 million against a budget of €131 million, resulting in a net underspend of €15 million (12%).

Last year continued to be a busy one for the Houses:

• The Dail and Seanad sat for a combined total of 153 days: there were 91 Dáil sittings over 772 sitting hours, and 62 Seanad sittings over 349 sitting hours

• Committees of the Houses held 323 committee meetings over 729 sitting hours, heard from 992 witnesses and presented 33 reports to the Houses;

• 121 Bills initiated in the Houses

•  22 Bills passed by the Houses

• 44,942 Parliamentary Questions tabled for reply by members of the Government

• 281 Topical Issues selected for debate in the Dáil

• 1,823 hours of parliamentary debate and 44,942 Parliamentary Questions

Another priority for the year was to oversee the planning and preparation for the Georgian Leinster House structural project. The Georgian Houses is undergoing a programme of extensive structural and upgrade works to address structural deterioration in the building. Later this year, the Seanad Chamber will relocate temporarily to the National Museum of Ireland to allow the urgent work to progress.

Communicating the work of the Houses to the public is of central importance in achieving the Commission’s core objective of A Parliament for the People.

Over the past year, the Oireachtas website has undergone a significant redevelopment, improving online access to a variety of parliamentary information and delivering timely information on the important work of the Houses, their Committees and members.

Oireachtas TV began broadcasting on the Saorview platform last year, expanding its coverage and making live broadcasts of the parliamentary proceedings more widely available.

Guided tours for visitors and school groups continue to be popular. Last year, the Houses received more than 100,000 visitors and more the 52,000 visitors participated in guided tours of the Houses.

The Ceann Comhairle and Leas-Cheann Comhairle were elected, for the first time, based on a secret ballot of all members of the Dáil. The sub-Committee on Dáil Reform presented a series of proposals for reform of Dáil procedures and practices which were approved by the House and many were implemented over the past year, including:

•    the establishment of a Dáil Business Committee giving responsibility to the House itself to plan and make arrangements for its own business
•    the establishment of a Budget Oversight Committee to enhance scrutiny of the annual budgetary cycle, which will be supported in its work by the establishment of a Parliamentary Budget Office
•    the introduction of postponed divisions until the “weekly division time”
•    provision for more than one ‘technical group’ to be established under Standing Orders allowing independents and small parties to have a greater share of parliamentary set pieces
•    a means to have abstentions from a vote in the Dáil included in the official record of proceedings
•    rearrangement of the sitting day to minimise conflict between plenary sittings and committee meetings
•    an expanded role for the Office of the Parliamentary Legal Adviser to include the provision of assistance to backbench members in drafting legislation, and the provision of advice as required on legislation being considered by the Houses; and
•    reform of the Committee System

The Annual Report also includes benchmarking statistics with 21 other national parliaments, which show that the Houses of the Oireachtas compare well internationally. Key indicators show that the Houses have:

•    the fourth-highest number of sitting hours in 2016 of 21 parliaments
•    the third-highest number of parliamentary questions tabled annually across 21 parliaments and the highest number of parliamentary questions per member
•    the eighth-highest number of visitors to parliament as a percentage of population out of 21 parliaments surveyed

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl said: “The report provides an overview of the business of the Houses of the Oireachtas and their Committees, the work of members of the Houses, the services that support them, as well as the expenditure incurred in running the Houses of the Oireachtas last year.

“Last year was a year of change on several fronts for the Houses following the elections to Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann which saw 102 new members joining the Houses. The change in the political composition of the Houses following the elections ushered in a programme of Dáil reform reflecting the desire of the House to conduct its business more effectively to better serve its members and, most importantly, the people we serve.

"Looking ahead, the Leinster House structural project will continue to progress this year. The Georgian House was vacated last year in preparation for the project. Later this year, the Seanad Chamber will relocate temporarily to the National Museum of Ireland to allow the work to proceed. On behalf of the Commission, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to the Board of the National Museum for facilitating this move.

“On behalf of all members we are pleased to present this report to the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Read the report here: http://beta.oireachtas.ie/en/publications/