May I suggest that maybe members look at how to amend this Rule, but for now it is the Rule.
I would also like to speak on the other issue raised by the hon Davidson on the inability of structures of Parliament to take decisions and to also remind the member that he serves on all these structures, including the Chief Whips' Forum. So, the point is that we, wherever we are, need to make sure that all the structures function and function well.
Furthermore, I said in my speech this afternoon that we want to make this a vibrant Parliament that is able to take decisions and move forward. If there are any issues, I'm certainly hoping that we would be able to sit down and say what it is that we need to change for the better. We want this Parliament to be a better Parliament and to work effectively and efficiently. We all have a collective responsibility in this regard.
Having said that, again we should look at ways in which we can ensure more effective co-ordination and communication among the different structures. And we want, again, to look at the governance model, which we need to discuss in some detail. It might perhaps answer some of the questions and concerns that have been raised to date.
Chairperson Bapela is correct when he says that the money is not enough. It's a classical case of the wants, the needs and the resources. It's always difficult to balance those. The needs are greater than the resources available, which is why we also emphasise the issue of efficiency and effective use of the limited resources we have. We are receiving 2% of the national Budget. We certainly would want to get more money, but for now we don't have more resources.
It's also a case, which is a bit of a problem, as I mentioned earlier, that we have money that we cannot spend, yet we want more money. We need to find a solution to this problem. We only spent 69% of the budget, yet we want more when we cannot spend it. There certainly is a problem. There are bottlenecks that we need to address. Before we say we want more money, let's address the problem so that we can use the money effectively and efficiently. Adding more money does not solve the problem. Let's find the problem and identify it correctly, then we can find the solution to it.
The hon Shilowa raised an issue which the hon Masutha has addressed at length, which is how do we define a better role for Parliament in secondary legislation, ie legislations which are drafted by the executive and whose constitutionality should be tested. It was agreed at the Joint Rules Committee of 22 April 2010 that a draft resolution to establish interim mechanisms for scrutiny of delegated legislation be adopted by the Joint Rules Committee and placed before the House for consideration. That was the decision, and it needs to come to the House.
Hon Greyling raised the issue of political party funding. The request from the hon member Greyling that the Joint Rules Committee discuss a proposal for the establishment of an ad hoc committee to consider drafting legislation to regulate private party funding could not be placed on the agenda. As I had explained in the Joint Rules Committee meeting of 22 April 2010, the establishment of ad hoc committees is a decision taken directly by the House, or, in the case of joint ad hoc committee, by both Houses.
The Joint Rules Committee considers the establishment of permanent joint committees. And as we all know, the normal procedure for introducing legislation by a member is through the use of Rule 234, and the proposal is considered by the Committee on Private Members' Legislative Proposals and Special Petitions. The other procedures would be through the committee of Parliament. As Speaker, I do not have the power - although people believe I do - to instruct the National Assembly to introduce legislation, notwithstanding my opinion or interest in the matter.
I certainly agree with the hon Kaylan about the need for increased public participation - I also mentioned this in my speech - and the role of Parliament in international relations,
In terms of Chapter 9 institutions and the so-called "Kader Asmal report", this is a recommendation that is before the Parliamentary Oversight Authority and the Joint Rules Committee.
With regard to the Pan-African Parliament, I agree with the comments made by Chairperson Oliphant, that in fact we are concerned about the Pan- African Parliament, which is not quite functioning as it should - which is why we have seconded, as Parliament, one of our own members. We are going to lose him in Parliament, but we think he will add value to the work of the Pan-African Parliament which we host, and that is Adv Madasa. We have also agreed that we will continue to give all support - political, moral and technical - to the Pan-African Parliament to make sure that it does function and function as an important body representing Parliaments of the continent. So, we do agree that something has to be done, but we also want to say that something is being done.
With regard to speaking time for smaller parties, I think hon members will remember that when I came in as Speaker I did invite leaders of parties and had discussions with them. I expressed my preference that there should be more time given to parties and that the minimum time would at least be three minutes. However, that is the decision of political parties. I have expressed my preference, but the decision is actually not mine, it is yours.
Around the issue of constituency allowances, again this is actually a decision of political parties. They are the ones who are in charge of the constituency allowances.
In terms of the issue of the budget office, which was raised by a number of members, let me inform members that the presiding officers met with political task team responsible for the implementation of Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act on 20 April 2010. The purpose of the meeting was to receive a progress report from the task team and to discuss around the implementation of the Money Bills Amendment Procedures and Related Matters Act with the view of reaching a common understanding. The process of establishing a budget office may seem to be slower than necessary. However, members will remember that this is an important and complex legislation that requires careful consideration and implementation. I have suggested to the task team that it would be advisable that we consult with other parliaments that have established budget offices to ensure that we benchmark with the best model out there. As I said, it is important to learn from others to avoid reinventing the wheel. I also want to confess here that I was wrong on some issues. For example, I was all along under the impression that the Canadian model of the budget office is one of the best in the world, until I met the Minister of International Trade of Canada on March 16 2010 when he paid a courtesy call to Parliament. When I raised this issue he looked at me with great, great surprise and concern. He informed me that the Canadian budget office does not serve the objective for which it was established, and as such it has not assisted parliament in any way whatsoever. He did suggest that we not look at the Canadian model. We might look at other models, but we are not going to look at the Canadian model.
I agree that we need to improve our public participation and involvement in Parliament; there can certainly be no doubt about that. Parliament will review the work of members in constituencies as well with the view of finding measures on how best it can improve and enhance a representative democracy.
A lot of these comments are valuable because we will be looking at them and making sure that we are able to factor them as we go forward in terms of improving how Parliament works.
I agree entirely with the hon Dudley that global financial pressure led to domestic pressure, and that there is a real decrease in the budget allocation. I think that is spot on.
There is another issue on party funding being inadequate, but that there is a real increase despite the inadequacy of 2,1% in the current budget. I think that is to be commended.
Chairperson Skosana, I just want to indicate that the Quarterly Consultative Forum meets monthly and discusses all the interests of Members of Parliament. I also sympathise with the hon Chairperson Skosana that his 10 minutes appeared to be fewer than the 10 minutes that he normally allows himself when he speaks. I want to suggest that perhaps the 10 minutes was not enough because he did use the time to give out the names, addresses and telephone numbers of staff; that does take up quite a bit of time. [Laughter.]
I agree with what you said, Hon Ellis. With your experience you say that all the Parliaments have been boring. I wasn't here, but I take your word for it that it has been very boring. So, let's make sure that it's not boring. Let's do something about it.
I want to thank you again for your participation and comments, and I also support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]