An on-line Oireachtas
Introduction
The Houses of the Oireachtas have been in a consistent mode of transformation since the creation the Oireachtas Commission in 2004. At the core of this has been the business of achieving excellence in the operation of modern national parliament for both its members and the Irish people as a whole. The promotion of parliament, and accessibility to it, are to the fore and the Oireachtas website – www.oireachtas.ie – is now an essential shop window in terms of public access to the business of parliament.
The Houses of the Oireachtas Web site is a cornucopia of information about the Irish parliament.
This piece will attempt to give the reader a flavour of what is available on the Web site, how it relates to the functioning of the parliament, and indicate some future developments.
The Oireachtas
“The National Parliament shall be called and known, and is in this Constitution generally referred to, as the Oireachtas.”
- Constitution of Ireland, Article 15 1. 1°
The Oireachtas consists of the President and two Houses: Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann.
The Chairmen or Speaker of the Dáil is known as the Ceann Comhairle and the chairman of the Seanad is known as the Cathaoirleach.
Each House can form select committees for specific purposes, and two select committees (one from each house) meeting and voting together are known as joint committees.
The corporate body is known as the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission.
The senior official of each House is known as the Clerk, assisted by the officers and the Joint Staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Parliament on the Net
Before the advent of the World Wide Web, parliamentary publications were printed and distributed to Members, the Government Publications shop, public libraries, and other subscribers. Some documents were only easily available in Leinster House, the seat of the Houses of the Oireachtas.
A key objective of the Houses’ eParliament strategy was to make parliamentary information available via the Web at the same time as or before traditional channels.
The Houses were early adopters of XML, resulting in more timely publication of legislative documents and Parliamentary Debates.
Using the Web, parliamentary information is now available at any time, in any place, and on any device.
The Houses’ eDemocracy programme included an innovative eConsultation exercise on broadcasting legislation.
Members
Today, the 30th Dáil has 166 Deputies and the 23rdSeanad has 60 Senators.
A simple relational database on the Web site contains details of the current Houses’ membership (constituencies, panels, political parties), but also similar details of every member and every parliament since 1919. Members contact details, photograph, and brief biographical details are provided.
Legislation
Acts are very complex structured documents. The Houses (with their contractors Cahill Printers Ltd. and Propylon Ltd.) developed an XML based eLegislation system. This is used by the Bills Office to produce XML versions of bills (all stages), Acts of the Oireachtas, amendment lists, etc.
When an amendment is passed by either House or a committee, it is incorporated into the bill automatically.
The XML version of the bill is reused by Rannóg an Aistriúcháin (Translation Section) to produce the official translation. A Web based translation aid provides precedents for the translator.
Bills, Acts etc. are published on the Web site on a daily basis as PDF files, with links on the contents pages to aid navigation. A html page is set up for each bill, with links to each stage of the bill, amendment lists, debates on the bill, and the Act (if enacted). Links are also provided from Acts to the Bill page, enabling users to see what the intention of the legislation was.
There is also a HTML bilingual Acts Web site http://www.achtanna.ie/
This site contains the full text in Irish and English of the Acts from 1922 – 2003, with split screen viewing, and section to section links between the language versions.
European Affairs
The Joint Committee on European Affairs has its own Web site, with details of its membership, role, meetings and staff.
eConsultation
With assistance from the Universities eConsultation Research Group, the pilot eConsultation project 2006 – 2007, although experimental, aimed to revolutionise the manner in which Parliament, Government and the citizen interact.
It was intended to be a genuine consultation that would test the readiness of Parliament and the Joint Committee on Communications Marine and Natural resources in particular to work more closely with the general public using new technologies and interactive communication.
It was also designed to facilitate a wide range of groups and individuals to contribute to the work of the Joint Committee by having efficient, genuine and transparent dialogue between them.
Sittings
“Sittings of each House of the Oireachtas shall be public.”
- Constitution of Ireland, Article 8. 1°
While there are public and press galleries in each House and committee room, access is necessarily limited. The Web is making it easier to be virtually present.
Before the sitting
The Schedule of Business
The schedule of business in both Houses and committees is published the previous Friday, including links to bills being discussed that week.
There is an email subscription service, and an experimental RSS feed for the schedule.
The day’s order papers and questions papers are published on the Web site before 06.00 on the sitting day as PDF files, with bookmarks to the various sections.
During the Sitting
Live Webcasting on the Internet:Live broadband and dialup Video and audio streams of the Dáil and Seanad are available on the Web site using Webcasting supplied in association with HEAnet, Ireland’s National Education and Research network, a not for profit company established by the universities and the Higher Education Authority. Live coverage of the Budget in 2006 and 2007 resulted in the highest ever Internet traffic in Ireland.
IPTV on the Internet:A multicast MPEG2 IPTV service covering the Dáil and Seanad is also provided on the Internet in association with HEAnet, but so far only one commercial Internet service provider (Magnet Networks) is providing the Oireachtas IPTV channels to its subscribers. HEAnet is providing the channels to the educational and research networks in Ireland, the U.K. and Europe.
IPTV on the Government Networks:A multicast MPEG4 IPTV service covering the Dáil, Seanad and Committees is provided on the Government Networks in association with the Department of Finance.
After the Sitting
The Latest Debates
Following the Office’s investment in XML systems, the Dáil and Seanad debates are now published on the Houses’ Web site the same day or following day. The book is available within one week on the Web site ad a PDF file with links from the contents page.
Webcasting Archives:Webcast recordings are available on the Web site about one week after the sitting.
Historical Debates
http://historical-debates.oireachtas.ie/
The entire archives of the parliamentary debates including written answers are on-line, going back to the first meeting of the First Dáil on 21 January 1919.
A project to add the archives of Parliamentary Committees from 1922 – 2007 is well underway. The Web site will contain the full text of committee debates on legislation (Bills and estimates), and committee reports, including minutes of evidence.
The Public
So, the website has been developed from the inside out. It is comprehensive in its content and in being so it places our parliament on-line for all to see and engage with. However, our next ambition is to be proactive in ensuring that it is accessible and attractive to all of the public. The Houses of the Oireachtas are currently implementing a far reaching Communications Strategy with plans to bring parliament out into the classroom and into communities, as well inviting greater public access to the actual House of the Oireachtas complex in Dublin city centre.
The Oireachtas website is already a unique resource for a wide range of user groups. Our next step forward will be to make it a resource for the classroom, the campus, the community hall, and indeed, for everyone who wants to play an active role in today’s Ireland.
(An abridged version of this article appeared in Public Affairs Ireland.)
