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{
    "id": 823018,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/823018/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 206,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Endebess, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Robert Pukose",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1458,
        "legal_name": "Robert Pukose",
        "slug": "robert-pukose"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I support the Report by the Committee on the benchmarking visit to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. Listening to the Chair of the Committee and the seconder – who also happens to be a Member of my Departmental Committee on Energy – on the issue of the facilities and services, I am glad that you were able to visit those great countries and look at the kind of services and facilities members are able to access within those areas. This Report should be looked at especially by our Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) in terms of these services. In the 11th Parliament, I happen to have been in this Committee. I am actually one of the people who moved the amendment to the Standing Orders of the House to create the Committee on Members’ Services and Facilities. Initially, it was called the Committee on Catering and Health Services. We felt it needs to address more of the facilities of Members and see how best they can be assisted. I remember when the issue of the laptops was brought in, the one for the Deputy Speaker was going to be a benchmark but up to today nothing has happened. I think the PSC needs to also expedite the construction of the offices of Members. When you move around and you look at the kind of offices that Hon. Members are operating from, you will appreciate that they are not very good for the Members. If we want to provide Members with services to be able to perform well, it is important that we make sure that the facilities in which they are operating are up to date and up to the standard. I happen to have travelled with Hon. Mule to Washington DC, where we visited both Congress and the Senate. We saw how they are facilitated. It is actually amazing to see what Members are able to do. We have also been able to visit some parliaments within this region, including Uganda and Rwanda. If you go there, you will see how members are struggling. As a country, we are in between. I think we need to strive and do well. For the record, Hon. Ngeno has invited me to visit Emuria Dikirr to attend his wedding on Saturday. I think I will be able to attend."
}