The Official Report is the written record of everything that is said in public sittings of the Houses of the Oireachtas and their parliamentary committees.
Since its establishment in 1922, the primary task of the Debates Office has been to produce the Official Report of the Houses of the Oireachtas, namely, Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. The Official Report is the written record of everything that is said in public sittings of the Houses of the Oireachtas and their parliamentary committees. It includes debates, statements, answers to oral questions, votes and evidence given in committee meetings. Written answers provided by Ministers to parliamentary questions, which are an important tool for Deputies as they perform their task of holding the Government to account, also form part of the Official Report. From the very beginning, the Debates Office has published daily the debates of the Houses in their entirety very shortly after they have taken place. These daily debates are later revised by the team and are published together in printed volumes as the revised Official Report. It is expected that some time before the end of 2020, the 1,000th such volume of the Dáil Official Report will be produced.