Houses of the Oireachtas Commission publishes 2022 Annual Report

The report shows parliamentary services continues to be delivered efficiently and effectively. The Commission’s audited financial accounts presented in this report show that the cost of running the Houses in 2022 was €141.5m. The Commission will continue to build on its achievements over the last year and is committed to ensuring efficient use of available resources in its ongoing work.

This is the first progress report on the Implementation of the Strategic Plan 2022-2024 – A Parliament Working Effectively for the People, which seeks to meet the challenges of both today and tomorrow.

An important area of focus for the Commission at the current time is to ensure that all members of the Houses and their staff have the personal security they need when carrying out their work away from Leinster House. There has been a growing trend in recent times of threats of violence and other incidents directed at members because of the position they hold. 

In response to this situation the Commission has put a scheme in place to support members to implement additional security measures, as necessary, based on a security assessment of their constituency offices and homes by their local Crime Prevention Officer

In an effort to counter this abuse a Task Force has been established, charged with addressing the abuse and harassment experienced by those in public life.

The Commission will continue to support and facilitate this process and we would like to acknowledge the contribution of the Oireachtas Women’s Parliamentary Caucus and Women for Election to this process.

During 2022 the parliamentary community continued to adopt the important preventative measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in the Leinster House complex and built on the blended working practices initiated during the pandemic to support both organisational effectiveness and the wellbeing of the parliamentary community.

Numerous public events took place throughout 2022, these events helped strengthen public engagement and raise awareness of the work of the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Last year the Houses marked another significant milestone in our history: the first meeting of Seanad Éireann which took place in December 1922. The programme of events launched in February under the theme Seanad 100 – Minority Voices, Major Change included online events, a TV documentary, exhibitions for the public as well as student debates.

Some other highlights below:

• On 6 April H.E. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, addressed a joint sitting of both Houses of the Oireachtas via video link from Kyiv. President Zelenskyy is the sixth head of state to address a joint sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas and the first to do so via video link.

• In February the Cathaoirleach, Senator Mark Daly launched Seanad100 – Minority Voices, Major Changes, the programme of events to commemorate and celebrate the centenary of Seanad Éireann and a two-part documentary, chronicling 100 years of Seanad Éireann was broadcast by Oireachtas TV in December.

• In May the PBO hosted the 14th Annual Meeting of the OECD Working Party of Parliamentary Budget Officials and Independent Fiscal Institutions (PBO Network) in Dublin Castle. Approximately 100 participants representing the OECD countries and the OECD partner countries were in attendance.

• On 1 December President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission addressed a joint sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas as part of a visit to Dublin.

• The 61st Plenary of the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) took place in Westminster in March and the 62nd Plenary took place in Co. Cavan. At both meetings there was constructive and engaging debate on a range of topics from the Northern Ireland Protocol, legacy issues, Brexit, the attack on Ukraine, and vaccine rollout.

• In June the Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD, launched Straitéis na Gaeilge, 2021, the Irish Language Strategy for the Houses of the Oireachtas. The Strategy aims to expand the range of Irish language supports and resources available to members and staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service and help it develop into a functioning bilingual organisation.

Early in 2022 the Service established a Steering Committee to review the recommendations made in the report of the Forum on a Family Friendly and Inclusive Parliament. The forum was established by the Ceann Comhairle to generate practical and achievable recommendations that could make the Houses of the Oireachtas a more inclusive, family friendly and gender sensitive workplace and more responsive to the needs and interests of men and women of all ages in its composition, structure, operation and methods of working. The Commission has taken steps towards advancing the Forum’s recommendations and will receive regular progress reports on actions taken to address the recommendations which will be reported in our annual report to the Houses next year.

In another year of unprecedented challenges, some of the key achievements from 2022 are outlined below:

Dáil Éireann sat for 106 days (1,076 hours).

 The Dáil Business Committee held 36 meetings.

 The new Dáil Business website facilitated the production of 135 Dáil business daily PDF versions and 38 Dáil business weekly PDF versions, replacing the printed Dáil Order Papers.

152 Dáil divisions were recorded.

 385 Topical Issues were selected for debate in the Dáil.

68,153 Parliamentary Questions were processed.

Seanad Éireann sat for 105 days (721 hours).

125 Seanad divisions were recorded.

406 Commencement matters were tabled for debate in the Seanad.

121 Bills were initiated in the Houses – 55% were Government Bills and 45% were Private Members Bills (PMBs).

52 Bills were passed by both Houses during 2022, all Government Bills.

Debates Office:

– published 44,502 pages of the Official Report of the proceedings of the Dáil, Seanad and Parliamentary Committees,

– three Dáil Bound Volumes

– four Seanad Bound Volumes.

– written replies to Parliamentary Questions (55,688 questions) not taken on the floor of the Dáil are also included in the Official Report.

Overall, parliamentary Committees held 1,065 meetings (over 1,842 hours).

• 3,296 witnesses attended Committee meetings.
• 69 Committee reports were presented.

Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl TD and Cathaoirleach Senator Jerry Buttimer said: “The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission welcomes the progress that has been made and looks forward to this continuing over the next phase with the focus on providing quality services and being responsive to the changing needs and priorities of the Houses and members.”

“The Commission will continue to build on its achievements over the last year and is committed to ensuring efficient use of available resources in its ongoing work.”

“An important area of focus for the Commission at the current time is to ensure that all members of the Houses and their staff have the personal security they need when carrying out their work away from Leinster House. There has been a growing trend in recent times of threats of violence and other incidents directed at members because of the position they hold. This situation is extremely concerning. Members must be allowed to go about their work safely and securely, free from any form of threats of violence or intimidating behaviour, whether in their homes, meeting their constituents, or participating in public events.”