ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the functions which the Oireachtas actually performs, paying particular attention to its part in making policy; to the procedures it adopts and the resources that members have available to them; and to the members themselves, especially to how they see themselves. The generally accepted propositions about the functions and role of the Oireachtas do not reflect the facts, although the behavior of those actually engaged in politics shows that they recognize them at the level of action. The same principles and similar procedures obtain when the Oireachtas is considering policy proposals in the form of motions and proposals for spending public money. The methods used by the Oireachtas to deal with the policy proposals of governments are those evolved by the British parliament in the nineteenth century. The Irish parliamentary representative, is more a factor in administration and a 'consumer representative' than a legislator.
