Parliamentary reporters

The Debates Office is headed by the Editor of Debates and three deputy editors with responsibility for the Dáil, Seanad and committees. There are also seven assistant editors and a team of parliamentary reporters and administrative staff.

Work of parliamentary reporters

Proceedings are logged by parliamentary reporters who sit at the reporters' desk on the floor of the Chamber, located in front of the Clerk of the Dáil, during debates. These proceedings are also digitally recorded by sound technicians. Using their logs together with the sound files on their computers, reporters produce the Official Report in ten-minute sections.

If a Member uses a prepared speech, the parliamentary reporter may request a copy, either electronically or in hard copy, to assist with accuracy and the speedy production of the debate. It may be necessary to ensure a quote from a constituent's email has been accurately transcribed, for example, or that a townland in the Member’s constituency is spelled correctly.

The Official Report is substantially verbatim but is lightly edited for the benefit of readers. Parliamentary reporters render the spoken word in a written format while preserving the character and meaning of Members' contributions. 

Publication of Official Report

Dáil debates are published incrementally throughout a sitting day. All proceedings before 7 p.m. are published before midnight and the remainder are published the following day. 

Replies to questions tabled by Members on a particular day for written response by Ministers are generally published within two working days.

A first unedited draft of the Official Report is available to Members within approximately two hours via Lotus Notes before it is published on the Oireachtas website.