asked the Taoiseach the number of reports produced to date by the Oireachtas Joint Committees of the present Dáil; and the number of these which have been debated by Dáil Éireann to date.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Oireachtas Joint Committee Reports.
1.
To date 49 reports have been produced by the Oireachtas Joint Committees, excluding the Joint Services Committee, and of these three have been debated in the Dáil and 30 in the Seanad.
In addition, 12 reports of Dáil committees have been debated in the Dáil.
On a more general note, I can inform the Deputy that the Committee on Procedure and Privileges recently approved a proposal by the Leader of the House to provide, on an experimental basis, extra Dáil sitting time to debate reports, including reports of committees. A motion to give effect to this is being drafted and, following consultation with the Whips, it is hoped to bring the new arrangements into effect soon.
Does the Minister of State agree that it is a disgraceful performance to have debated three out of a total of 49 reports presented by all-party committees to this House? Does he further agree that this amounts to a failure on the part of the Government to lead in reforming the procedures of this Chamber? Is it not the role of Government to lead in the matter of Dáil reform? Would he agree also that the plans of the Minister for Finance to reform this House and to make the committees more relevant are now in shreds?
The Deputy is making a speech.
I do not agree that our plans are in shreds. The Government have been instrumental in reform of the House although I agree that more is needed. Many of the Committee Stages of Bills should be debated by a select committee——
Hear, hear.
If that were done, more time could be given to debating committees' reports. Since Easter, the House has been sitting for four days a week, until 11.30 p.m. on two nights and until 4 p.m. on Fridays. That is a fair amount of time to give to legislation and, with the co-operation of the Opposition, we have got through many Bills. We recognise that we must allot time to debate the reports of the committees. At present a motion is being drawn up and the Opposition Whip and I will decide the details. It is proposed to discuss the reports of these committees on Tuesdays between 8.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. and, if it is done in an ordered way, we will get through them. However, although it is desirable to discuss these reports it is not necessary. Many of these committees have been very good and have provided thought for future legislation. A number of the proposals on the committee dealing with building land will be incorporated in future legislation——
This is developing into a debate.
It is an apology.
The report of the committee on marriage breakdown has resulted in legislation and, therefore, I must disagree with the Deputy when he said that our plans were in shreds. The motion will be coming before the House to give specific time every week to deal with these reports.
As we are now in the second half of the fourth year of the Government, could the Minister say how many reports have been published by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on EC Secondary Legislation?
Twenty-seven reports were produced, one was debated in the Dáil and 18 were debated in the Seanad.
Is the Minister aware that although this committee have produced 27 reports and will produce three more before the end of the session, we have only been facilitated by having one before the House, despite repeated requests to the Taoiseach to give us time to debate these important reports. To date the Government have refused our requests.
I do not think that the Government have refused——
The Taoiseach refused my request.
The problem is, as I indicated earlier, that we have had a substantial amount of legislation to put through the House and one must order time on the basis of priority. We have done that and, while I accept that the Deputy feels aggrieved in regard to this matter, the allocation of time to deal with these reports will solve the problems.
I was delighted to hear the Minister suggesting that Committee Stages should be dealt with by committees. Is the Minister aware that certain reports, for instance, that of the committee on crime, lawlessness and vandalism which has given rise to the neighbourhood watch scheme without any debate in the House? Would the Minister consider convening a meeting of chairmen and vice chairmen of committees to see what progress can be made in developing the roles of the committees?
The Minister of State, Deputy Barrett, indicated that he is arranging for a review of the committee system to see how it might be improved and chairmen and vice-chairmen would probably have a role to play in that regard.
That is total nonsense. The Government have completely ignored the committee system. They set them up and then handcuffed them. I speak as chairman of one of the most active committees.
I am sorry the Deputy feels that way. However, the work of the committees has been successful and has provoked much thought for future legislation.
The Government should be ashamed of themselves.