As Members are aware, we have had an arrangement whereby we could debate matters in the Dáil by giving notice but that arrangement was only for a period that ends approximately with the Summer Recess. We will have to renew our request. Should we seek a longer period now that we have experienced how the procedure works and that it has not upset the working of the Houses of the Oireachtas?
Debates in Dáil.
The Seanad order would have lapsed in December last but a motion was passed continuing that until next December and it did not have to go back to the Seanad Committee on Procedure and Privileges. The Leader of the House put down a motion, which was seconded, and the motion was carried continuing the arrangement there to allow for the possibility of a debate on the floor of the House. Would the same procedure operate in the Dáil?
Could we carry on in the Dáil as irregularly as the Seanad do? I believe it would be in order for the Government Whip to put down such a motion. We can leave that to the new Government Whip, Deputy Woods. It should be reviewed, if possible, for a longer period. Initially it was for a trial period to see how it would affect the business of the Dáil. It has not, obviously, and it has been valuable.