merrion street

The Dail has today (Thursday, 28 January 2016) passed a package of Reforms which will see the next Oireachtas:
· Elect the Ceann Comhairle by secret ballot
· Select Oireachtas Committee Chairs using the d’Hondt system
· Require the Taoiseach appear before the Working Group of Committee Chairs twice a year to discuss matters of public policy

These three reforms complement the two Dáil and Oireachtas Reform packages introduced by this Government in July 2011 and September 2013.

Welcoming the passing of the Government's third package of Dáil reforms, Government Chief Whip Paul Kehoe TD said:
"These reforms will strengthen the Oireachtas in both its role as a legislature and in its ability to hold the Government of the day to account. This is the third package of Dáil Reforms introduced since 2011. This Government can be proud of its record in this area"
David Stanton TD, the Chair of the Oireachtas Working Group of Committee Chairs also welcomed the reforms, saying:
"This is a positive step building on what has already been done in the lifetime of this Government. We need to keep the reform agenda going into the next Oireachtas and continue to push the boundaries and seek new ways of making our parliament work better for the Irish people."

Under the new Standing Orders, TDs will, for the first time, elect the office of Ceann Comhairle by secret ballot. The office will be more independent and the holder of the office will be directly linked to their fellow members of the Dáil like never before. Under the new system a candidate must be nominated by seven other TDs the day before the Dáil meets. When the Dáil meets, each candidate will have five minutes to address their fellow T.D.s. The election shall then proceed by secret ballot in the Dáil Chamber. After which the Dáil shall be suspended and the ballots counted by PRSTV.
Provision will also be made by Standing Orders for the proportionate allocation of Committee chairs using the d’Hondt system. The Government of the day will no longer hold a near monopoly of Oireachtas Committee Chairs. This reform will distribute Chairs on the basis of Dáil support. Such a change will give Opposition TDs more powerful roles in the next Dáil. The Public Accounts Committee will continue to be chaired by a member of the Opposition.
The Taoiseach will be required to appear before the Working Group of Committee Chairs twice a year. This will allow the members of the Working Group to raise matters of public policy with the Taoiseach. This will further enhance the accountability of the office of the Taoiseach to the Oireachtas.
The Government has already implemented 2 extensive reform packages, introducing measures including :
· Increasing the number of Dáil sitting days from 93 days a year under the previous Government to 123 days a year.
· Introducing an additional Leaders’ Questions on Thursdays.
· Opening up the law-making process through introducing a Pre-Legislative Stage for Bills, conducted by the relevant Oireachtas Committee. This provides for an unprecedented and extensive engagement by the public, experts and civil society groups in the law-making process. Of key importance is the fact that this takes place before the Bill is published.

· Reforming Ministerial Question time by extending each slot to 75 minutes and requiring the member asking the question to be present in the Chamber, and enabling a member who is dissatisfied with an answer to a Parliamentary Question to appeal to the Ceann Comhairle.

· Replacing the outdated Adjournment Debates with Topical Issue Debates taken by a Minister from the relevant Department, and allowing TDs to postpone the debate if a Minister from that Department is not available.

· Each year the Taoiseach and Tánaiste will address the Dáil setting out the Government’s annual priorities.

· The proposer of a Private Member’s Bill now has five minutes at first stage to outline the purpose of the Bill to the Dáil and can then seek to have that Bill debated during a Friday sitting. The number of Bills introduced by Deputies has grown from 14 published in 2010 to 53 published in 2014.