Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 7 Jul 1982

Vol. 98 No. 8

Business of Seanad: Motion.

Mr. E. Ryan

I move:

That Seanad Eireann considers that, from the first day of sitting after the Summer recess—

(1) if the exigencies of business allow, motions other than Government motions should be taken at 7 p.m. on each Wednesday on which the Seanad sits; and

(2) in determining the order of priority in which such motions should be taken regard should be had to—

(a) rotation between different groupings, and

(b) the availability of the Ministers concerned: provided that a motion not necessarily involving a statement of Government policy may be proceeded with without a Minister being in attendance.

Professor Murphy

Fáiltim go croíúil roimh an tairscint seo dar gcion is céim buail ar aghaidh é i gnó an tSeanaid. I think this proposed item of business is very important in that it is the first time that Seanad Éireann will have Private Members' Time every week, virtually. This is a radical new departure. We must thank the Leader of the House for his willingness to meet the wishes of those of us who were pressing for this and indeed his ingenuity in devising this kind of solution.

Dr. West

I should like to support what Senator Murphy has said. The proposed changes are much to be wished for and will greatly improve the running of the Seanad. With him I should like to congratulate the Leader of the House on the motion and say that I fully support it.

Mr. Ross

I also would like to associate myself with the remarks made by Senators Murphy and West in welcoming this innovation. There are a large number of motions on the Order Paper and I think there will be even more very shortly. I imagine that we will, in the next session, be able to get through a large proportion of these. It is indicative of the fact that the Leader of the House is allaying the suspicions of some of us that he was not taking the Seanad seriously and that he was, perhaps, pushing too much legislation through too fast. I would like to congratulate him on this measure.

Mr. Ferris

As a member of the Committee on Procedure and Privileges who discussed this innovation, I would like to thank the Leader of the House for his co-operation in trying to ensure that Private Members get a fair share of the time available in this House. I had reservations about the time and I proposed 5 o'clock but 7 o'clock was agreed upon. However, on an evening like this evening, when you have agreed to accept a matter on the Adjournment, that would not apply, as that would take precedence over this innovation. However, it is a step forward and we should keep this matter open to constant review so the Members may feel that they have the fullest possible opportunity to contribute in this House on matters other than legislation.

Mr. McDonald

I, too, want to support this motion. I think that the feeling is that we should endeavour on an on-going basis to improve the effectiveness of the House and to endeavour to provide for as many motions and discussions in the House as possible. I can appreciate the proposal of the Leader of the House to reduce time allowed for individual Member's contributions. Perhaps it may prove to be that little bit short but if it is I am sure it will be possible to go back to the Committee on Procedures and Privileges to see if we can amend it or change it. From a personal point of view, I would have liked to have seen the introduction of a list system for speakers on motions where the Cathaoirleach could ascertain before the Order of Business how many Senators propose to speak on a motion. Some motions might attract a small number of speakers only and some might be contributed to by every Senator.

On the very first motion in the previous Seanad I think 54 or 55 speakers out of the 60 spoke. I know from my experience in the European Parliament that it was necessary to register one's desire to speak, a list was put up and one also saw the order in which one was to speak. The time factor was important. This motion is designed to improve our present situation and will afford each and every Member of the House a better opportunity of having any proposal aired in the House.

Question put and agreed to.