Committee Reports > List of Committees > Seanad > 1923 > Standing Committee on Standing Orders > Report No. 01 - Standing Orders

SEANAD ÉIREANN.

Tuarasgabháil ón mBuan-Choiste ar Bhuan-Orduithe.

(Report of the Standing Committee on Standing Orders.)

Do ceapadh an Coiste seo le Rún den tSeanad ar an 25adh Eanair, 1923, do réir Airtiogail 70 de sna Buan-Orduithe Sealadacha, atá mar leanas:—

“I dtosach gach Siosóin ceapfaidh an Seanad Coiste um Bhuan-Orduithe ar a mbeidh an Cathaoirleach agus an Leas-Chathaoirleach ex-officio agus ceathrar Seanadóirí an chuid is mó dhe.”

Siad so leanas atá ar an gCoiste do ceapadh amhlaidh:—An Tiarna Lann Abhaidh, Seamus Dubhglas, Aindrias Mac Séamais, Seán Ó Fearghail, Pádraig Ó Cionaodha, Sir Séan Ó Catháin.

Do tháinig an Coiste le chéile ar an 22adh Feabhra, 1923, agus bhí na baill seo leanas i láthair:—

An Tiarna Lann Abhaidh (i gCeannas), Séamus Dubhglas, Aindrias Mac Séamais, Pádraig Ó Cionaodha, Sir Seán Ó Catháin.

Do bhreithnigh an Coiste an Tuarasgabháil do cuireadh chuige ón gcruinniú ar Fhuirinn an Oireachtais, a comóradh ar an 15adh Feabhra, 1923, agus ar a raibh An Tiarna Lann Abhaidh, Séamas DubhgIas, Aindrias Mac Séamais agus Pádraig Ó Cionaodha ón Seanad agus Ceann Comhairle na Dála (Micheál Ó hAodha, Ollamh). Do beartuíodh go molfaí don tSeanad socruithe áirithe a dineadh ag an gcruinniú san agus táid seo i míreanna 1-4 infra.

1. It is recommended in the case of the Clerk, Assistant Clerk, and Second Assistant Clerk that these Officers, subject to the probationary period of one year already agreed upon—

(i.) shall be whole-time Officers.

(ii.) shall be put on scales of salaries, with regular increments; and

(iii.) shall hold office until they reach a certain specified age, say, 60 or 65, subject to being removed from office by Resolution of the Seanad, but only for misbehaviour or incapacity, which shall be expressly stated in such Resolution.

(iv.) The superannuation of these Officers shall be on the Civil Service Scale.

2. It is further recommended that the following additional Standing Orders, relative to the protection of the House, shall be adopted:—

(i.) The Captain of the Guard or his principal Lieutenant shall attend in the Seanad during the sittings of the House, and while attending there such officer shall be subject to the control of the Cathaoirleach.

(ii.) He shall admit none but authorised visitors within the precincts of the House, and he shall preserve order and decorum amongst them while present.

(iii.) He shall take into custody persons irregularly admitted into the Seanad, and persons guilty of disorderly conduct, and shall cause the removal of persons who have been directed to withdraw.

(iv.) He shall be responsible to the Cathaoirleach for the internal safety of the buildings of the Seanad, and for this purpose shall supervise the lighting and other apparatus, and shall take all other steps necessary for this purpose.

3. There exists at present a Dáil Staff, which it is recommended shall be made a common Oireachtas Staff, for the discharge of the following duties:— (a) Translation work; (b) ordering of printing, stationery, and furniture; (c) despatch of documents to members of the Seanad and Dáil; (d) typing and (e) reporting of Debates. This common Staff to be under the control of the Clerks of the two Houses, the Clerk of the Dáil being the senior.

4. It will be necessary to appoint a Counsel to act as Examiner of Private Bills, to function for both Seanad and Dáil; and it was decided that, pending the appointment of such a Counsel, the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad, Ceann Comhairle of the Dáil, and the Attorney-General should appoint a Counsel to draft Standing Orders dealing with Private Bills. These Orders, when drawn up, will be submitted to the Standing Orders Committees of both Seanad and Dáil, as it is desirable that the same Standing Orders be adopted by both Houses. Provided, that any arrangement by which advice is given by the Examiner of Private Bills when appointed, to the Cathaoirleach or Leas-Chathaoirleach shall be regarded as temporary, pending the appointment of a legal adviser to the Cathaoirleach, Leas-Chathaoirleach, and Seanad, an appointment which is certain to become inevitable as the work of the Seanad increases.

5. The question of Standing Orders regulating inter-communication between the two Houses was discussed. It was agreed that these matters can best be settled by a Joint Conference between the Standing Orders Committees of the two Houses, and it was decided to recommend to the Seanad that a message be sent to the Dáil requesting its approval of such a Joint Conference.

6. Standing Orders 30 and 31, relating to Divisions, were considered. In view of the difficulty of judging from the calls “Tá” and “Níl,” which side is in the majority, and in order to effect a reduction of the number of divisions which is thereby rendered necessary, it is recommended that Standing Order 30 be altered as follows:—

(i.) Page 7, line 11, after the word “níl,” insert the words “or he may call for a show of hands.”

(ii.) Delete the next sentence, and substitute therefor—“He shall then judge and declare which side is in the majority.”

(iii.) Page 7, line 17, after the word “then,” insert the words “after an interval of two minutes.”

7. The question was discussed of the desirability of allowing Parliamentary Questions in the Seanad, and it was decided for the present not to draft or recommend any Standing Orders dealing with this matter, for the following reasons:— The Committee consider that, having regard to the powers and constitution of the Seanad, no questions, save such as may be addressed to the Cathaoirleach in relation to matters connected with the business and procedure of the Seanad itself, would serve any useful purpose. They would presumably deal with matters of executive and administrative policy, to which the responsible Minister for the Department concerned alone could supply an adequate or a satisfactory answer, and the Committee do not feel justified in existing conditions in adding to the many responsibilities and duties of Ministers by recommending that they should be invited to attend the meetings of the Seanad for this particular purpose.

8. The Committee also considered the alternative suggestions that Ministers might be invited to transmit their answers in writing, or that one Minister might be deputed to give oral answers on behalf of his own and the other Departments concerned; but apart from the serious burden which the experience of other Legislative Assemblies has shown might thereby be cast upon the staffs of the various Ministries in the reference and research that the preparation of the answers would entail, it is obvious that neither of these alternative suggestions would reasonably permit of supplementary questions, without which the privilege would be comparatively worthless.

9. Further, the answering of questions by Ministers cannot be claimed by the Seanad as a matter of right, but would depend upon the consent from time to time of the Government of the day; and in the absence of any agreed practice on the subject might lead to difficulty.

10. Finally, it is to be remembered that in respect of any matter of importance it is in the power of any Senator to call public attention to it by an appropriate Resolution which, should the matter be of sufficient urgency, he can, by permission of the Cathaoirleach and by leave of the House, move without previous notice.

11. Pursuant to the second paragraph of Standing Order No. 3, which is as follows:

“A panel of not less than two Senators shall be appointed each session, who may, on the request of the Cathaoirleach, the Leas-Chathaoirleach, or the Seanad, act as Cathaoirleach during the absence of the Cathaoirleach and Leas-Chathaoirleach.”

it was decided to recommend the appointment for this Session of a panel consisting of Senators Sir Thomas Esmonde and J. T. O’Farrell. The Committee are of opinion that the Senators to be selected for this purpose should be varied each Session.

12. As the present Provisional Standing Orders remain in force only until the 25th March, it is recommended that the changes proposed in paragraphs 2 and 6 supra, shall not, if adopted, be incorporated in the printed copies forthwith, but shall await the revised Standing Orders which it is intended shall replace the present Provisional Orders.

13adh Márta, 1923.