Parliamentary decorum

Dress code

Members should dress in a manner that reflects the dignity of the House.

Moving about in the Chamber

Members may move around the Chamber during a sitting, or they may need to enter or leave. In doing so, Members should avoid crossing the floor of the House. When entering or leaving their row of seats, or crossing the middle gangway opposite the Chair, a Member should bow to the Chair.

Members must not walk between the Chair and the Member who is addressing the House.

Wearing of emblems

To maintain the decorum of Parliament, only emblems of a non-party political nature may be worn in the precincts of Leinster House, and the wearing of garments or the overt display of any item containing a slogan or a campaigning message, graphic or image or any kind, or the wearing or display of anything of a commercial or promotional nature, is prohibited.

Display of posters, placards and exhibits

Displaying posters, placards, photographs or other exhibits to emphasise a point during debate is not permitted. As the business of the House is conducted, recorded and televised in a formal manner, it is in a Member’s interest to be mindful of the dignity of the House. Members should refrain from reading newspapers, books or other non-parliamentary material in the House during a sitting, unless their reading arises out of the business before the House.

Expressions of sympathy

Expressions of sympathy may be taken in accordance with arrangements agreed to on the Order of Business. Those arrangements for the taking of such expressions of sympathy should be made with the Business Committee by the Whip of the party or group of which the deceased was a member. In accordance with the protocol agreed by the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight, the family of the deceased Member should be consulted when it is proposed that such expressions of sympathy are to take place.

Electronic equipment

Electronic devices may only be used in silent mode and, where possible, should be switched off in the Chamber.

Mobile phones

1. The use of mobile phones by all persons, including Members, is strictly prohibited and should be in a switched-off mode in the following areas:
   • The Dáil and Seanad Chambers, save that in the Dáil Chamber, calls may be made and received in the division lobbies by party and group Whips while the bells are ringing and before the doors are locked
   • The committee rooms when a committee is sitting therein
   • The Library Reading Room
2. The use of mobile phones, other than mobile phones with the facility for taking photographs which are dealt with in 3 and 4 below, by persons other than Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas is strictly prohibited in all areas except those listed below, provided that the mobile phone is in a silent mode. Where special telephone booths are provided, mobile phone users other than Members may make and receive calls from these.
   
   
   • Private offices where appropriate and with the permission of the occupants
   • The waiting room off the main hall
   • The waiting area near the Members’ restaurant
   • Lobby outside Visitors’ Bar
   • Leinster Lawn
   • Kildare Street courtyard
   • The lobby to the visitors' entrance from Kildare Street courtyard
   • The waiting room at Kildare Street gate
   • Kildare House front hall/lobby area
   • Leinster House 2000 reception/lobby area
   • Leinster House 2000 committee room lobby area
3. The use of mobile phones for the taking of photographs within the buildings of Leinster House is strictly prohibited.
   
   
4. The use of mobile phones for the taking of photographs of Members on Leinster Lawn and the Kildare Street courtyard is prohibited unless the approval of the Members concerned is granted in advance.