Committees of the Oireachtas are committees and sub-committees and select committees of
Dáil Éireann and Joint Committees of Dáil Éireann and
Seanad Éireann, that are small groups of
TDs and
senators of the
Oireachtas, the parliament of the
Republic of Ireland.[1] Some committees are formed by statute after every general election, others are formed by agreement for a full parliamentary term or for a specific issue on a time-limited basis. Committees are formed on a proportional basis from members of the political parties/groups in each house. Chairs of committees are granted a stipend for their work. Some committees scrutinise the work and proposed legislation from specific
government departments, and senior
ministers or junior
ministers of state as well as public servants or representatives of
semi-state bodies and organisations supported by state funding are also regularly invited to address such committees.
Private meetings
Committees agree their agendas and ways of working, or discuss matters of a sensitive nature,[2] in private meetings.
Public meetings
Committees hold public meetings where individuals are asked to address a committee, or be questioned by it.[3]
Parliamentary privilege
Per
Bunreacht na hÉireann,[4] when addressing a committee in
Leinster House, contributors are protected by limited
parliamentary privilege, but it is the custom of committees to ask contributors to desist from referring (directly or undeniably) negatively to individuals who are not present at such a committee meeting.[5] Since the increased use of remote meeting software, (from 2020) this privilege for parliamentarians has been limited to those who are "physically present within the confines of Leinster House".[6]
Committee of Privileges
The Constitution provides for the formation, at the direction of the
president, following a request of 30 senators, of a joint "Committee of Privileges",[7] to decide on whether a specific
Bill meets the definition of a "
money bill", which would be subject to a maximum delay of 21 days by a Seanad resolution. This committee would be chaired by a
Supreme Court Judge.[8] No such committee has ever been created under the 1937 constitution, but one was created in 1935 under Article 35 of the 1922
Constitution of the Irish Free State, which contained similar provisions.[9] Originally the committee could be requested by two-fifths of TDs, but the
Constitution (Amendment No. 12) Act 1930 allowed half of Senators to do so. The
Constitution (Amendment No. 24) Act 1936, which abolished the Seanad, made the concept of money bills moot and so also deleted Article 35.
Proposed constitutional change 2011
The
Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2011, put to a
referendum in October 2011, sought to empower each House to convene (possibly jointly) committees of inquiry, with powers to compel withness statements, and to make findings against citizens. The referendum was defeated by 53% to 47%.[10] In 2013 a
referendum to remove the Seanad proposed extensive changes of committees. This was defeated by 51.7% to 48.3%.[11]
Current committees
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adding to it. (July 2022)
Comhchoiste Na Gaeilge, Na Gaeltachta Agus Phobal Labhartha Na Gaeilge - (Joint Committee on The
Irish Language, The
Gaeltachts and the Use of Irish in Public)[22]