Plenary, 05 Oct 2006
Meeting date: Thursday, October 5, 2006
Official Report
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Presiding Officer's Ruling
This morning Christine Grahame raised as a point of order her concern about members not being present for closing speeches. Six members who took part in the debate this morning were not present for the closing speeches and only one of them had sought the permission of the Presiding Officer to be absent.
I have consulted the other Presiding Officers on the matter and although this morning's example was extreme, the Presiding Officers have discussed and become increasingly aware of the issue. We agree that members who contribute to debates should not then leave before the closing speeches. Doing so is a discourtesy to the members who are summing up and a disservice to the Parliament. I am also aware that the members I wish to address are not here—they are not due to be here anyway at this point—so I will write to them. We are aware of what happened this morning and hope that it will not happen again.