Hon Deputy Speaker, I would urge you to ignore frivolous comments and remarks. [Laughter.]
Let me repeat what I said before I was rudely interrupted.
In respect of the matter raised by hon Greyling, it should be noted that members can ask questions regarding Parliament through the relevant structures that you as members have created. I would encourage hon Greyling to familiarise himself with the Parliamentary Oversight Authority, the Quarterly Consultative Forum, the Chief Whips' Forum and various other Rules committees.
As I indicated in my opening statement, Parliament continues to address the capacity of support services to committees. As and when funds become available, committees will be provided with more research and content capacity. However, we have experienced difficulty in attracting the necessary skills in order to fully capacitate all the committees. This is a work in progress, and we have said before that we want to make sure that the committees are fully capacitated and that they function optimally. We are also working to ensure that there is clearly defined and focused support to committees to enable members to improve on the work of Parliament.
With regard to research capacity, currently one researcher is allocated to each committee except where vacancies exist, and in some instances where there are two researchers supporting a committee. As reported earlier, in Japan each committee is supported by at least 14 officials. This impresses us a lot, and we hope to emulate this. We may not be able to achieve this right away, but we will continue to work to ensure that committees and members have the required adequate support. [Applause.]
The library, which is part of the knowledge management support environment, has been given permission to embark on a project to upgrade the systems in the library to full digitisation. Our library must also move towards ensuring that we can access their services and materials from computers away from Parliament and outside working hours. [Applause.]
In last year's Budget Vote debate I indicated that the process of establishing a budget office might seem to be slower than necessary. However, it is important to remind hon members that the presiding officers decided that it would be advisable to consult with other parliaments that have established budget offices, to ensure that we benchmark it with the best model out there.
As reported earlier, two study tours took place last year, and our findings were shared with members in two workshops. The task team is in the process of finalising a model best suited to our circumstances and this model will soon be presented for adoption by Parliament. Once we adopt a model, we can then appoint a director for the budget office.
The establishment of the budget office is a priority for Parliament. Members must, however, be mindful of the fact that this remains a relatively complex undertaking that we must get right from the outset.
With regard to the implementation of the Money Bills Amendment Procedure and Related Matters Act, various provisions of the Act have been implemented since promulgation, including the establishment of Standing Committees on Finance and on Appropriations in both the NA and the NCOP. Parliamentary rules and procedures have been reviewed and developed, and the parliamentary programme has been adjusted to accommodate changes brought about by the legislation. Training has been provided to members and it is ongoing to ensure that all of us have a common understanding of this important piece of legislation.
In regard to debates, I know that a number of speakers have highlighted the need for a more vibrant, responsive and proactive Parliament. A number of suggestions were also made on how to bring this about, including the reintroduction of interpellations and party motions. I also believe that we should create more flexibility in the parliamentary programme to allow us to debate and respond to issues of national interest and concerns as they occur. In so doing, we will ensure that the voice of all our people is heard when it matters most.
I would also like to concur with Dr Mulder that Parliament, as a separate arm of state, must take its rightful place at the forefront of ensuring oversight accountability. We are, of course, in support of constitutional parity between the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Oversight, however, is an ever-evolving process and we must constantly be looking at new tools and mechanisms to improve our oversight role.
I sympathise with the point made by Dr Mulder, that sometimes these speeches and debates are very boring. You can imagine, Dr Mulder, when somebody participating in a debate feels it is boring, how we must feel when we sit and preside, and have to listen to it for hours on end, but that is another debate! [Laughter.]
I would also like to agree with hon Kganyago about the allocation of speaking times to smaller parties. I have said before that it is clearly impossible to say what you want to say in one or two minutes. That clearly needs to be reviewed. I have said this before, and again, it's on the table of the Chief Whips. They are the ones who determine the speaking time; it is not the Speaker who determines speaking time. Of course, we then need to encourage the Chief Whips to look at it, and look at it urgently.
Hon Kalyan mentioned the fact that the equipment is outdated. Certainly, if it is, then something has to be done about it.
Then there is the issue of building a new parliament it is not the task of this Parliament to build a new parliament for the Pan-African Parliament for the Pan-African Parliament. That is really not our responsibility and we will not do it. [Applause.] It is the responsibility of the executive, the government. They are here by invitation of the government and they have signed an agreement with the Department of International Relations and Co- operation, and certainly not with Parliament. We support the parliament, but we ourselves do not supporting the building of parliamentary structures.
Hon Matladi, I think, mentioned a number of very interesting points. One of them is the absence of a CFO. Then there is the lack of capacity in the internal audit unit, and the irregular expenditure of R6 million. I would really urge the hon member, if she has this information, to please come and give it to me in my office immediately after the sitting. I will be more than willing to listen to you and take action. Sadly, I do not have the information that you probably have, so, if you don't mind, please share your information with me, and I will then take it up.
Another issue that has been raised is capacity for committees and MPs. I have touched on this and the hon Chairperson has also touched on the issue of capacitating MPs. Again, I want to state that we are working to ensure that there is clearly defined and focused support for members so that they can improve their work and in turn improve the work of Parliament.
Again, with regard to research capacity, there is currently, as I have said before, only one researcher per committee, but we are working to improve that.
There is another issue that has not been raised in this sitting ...