Justice Minister’s Questions Availability
O’Keeffe challenged the Minister’s availability for a full Questions session, citing the combined portfolios and a lengthy reply. The Chair said the House had adopted the procedure and could change it; O’Keeffe said the Whips had not secured agreement to a change.
On a point of order, which is a fairly serious point on which Deputy Flanagan touched earlier, what is the procedure open to us to ensure that the Minister for Justice is available to us for a full session of Questions? I get the impression that with the combination of Communications and Justice——
Comment on this
Deputy O'Keeffe, what the Chair did and what the Minister did in respect of that matter was by way of an order of the House and if this House wants to change that order it may do so. It is supreme in such matters. We are now resuming——
Comment on this
I have raised this matter through the Whips and there is a reluctance on the part of the Minister to agree to a change——
Comment on this
——and that opinion was reinforced by the fact that the Minister took seven minutes to read out a reply to the first question.