Changes in day-to-day operation of Dail to come into effect next month

Significant changes to the operation of the Dβil, including one that will demand that 40 TDs are in the chamber at all times, are expected to come into force next month, it has emerged.

Final details are being worked on by the all-party standing sub-committee on Dβil reform, headed by the Government Chief Whip, Mr Seamus Brennan.

Under the package, the Dβil will not be able to stay sitting if the quorum falls below 40 and defaulting members will be publicly named by the Ceann Comhairle, Mr SΘamus Pattison.

Ministers will be required to offer explanations to Dβil committees about upcoming European Union business before they travel to Brussels for meetings of the EU's Council of Ministers. Backbenchers, who often complain that Ministers fail to offer frank replies on many issues, have successfully argued that in future the answers must meet Freedom of Information Act standards.

In a bid to speed up proceedings, issues will be grouped together and voted on electronically in blocks between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. on Tuesdays or Wednesdays.

Members of the sub-committee were given a brief on electronic voting recently by the Office of Public Works, though a date for its introduction in the chamber has yet to be agreed.

Written parliamentary questions from TDs will be answered during all recesses, except for August and Christmas week, and not just during the Dβil's sitting periods.

TDs' complaints about the current scheduling of committees, which leaves them frequently rushing between them and the Dβil for votes, have been heard.

The problems were illustrated yesterday by the frequent voting interruptions which bedevilled a meeting between the Heritage and the Irish Language Committee and Radi≤ na Gaeltachta.

In future, committees will sit on their own for one week in every month, which should help to get them better television coverage, the sub-committee believes.

In return, the three days per month of normal Dβil business that will be lost will be made up by holding extra sessions on Tuesday mornings and all day on Fridays during the remaining three weeks.

In future, speakers, who currently can accept, or refuse a challenge to give way, will have to yield to the first challenge, though subsequent ones will be at the discretion of the Ceann Comhairle.

The Ceann Comhairle will also be able to allow a TD to speak during a debate, even if the person is not on a speaking list.

"A pre-ordained list ensures an empty chamber," said one source.

Efforts are still underway to increase the staff and resources available to the Houses of the Oireachtas, which are sharply below international standards, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers survey.

The resources available to the Northern Ireland Assembly deeply impressed a number of TDs, who travelled in a delegation to Stormont early this month.

The Assembly's committees alone have a full-time staff of 65, due to grow soon to 90. Assembly members can draw on the help of a 30-strong Research Unit, in addition to an 18-strong library staff.

The Research Unit can contract out work to deal with a member's requests, while guidelines are in place to ensure that requests are dealt with confidentially and in a non-partisan way.