Sitting of Wednesday, 24 September 2025
Source: Hansard PDF (parliament.lk) ↗ ·No. 1759815459006615 ·English daily/uncorrected Hansard
Order of business
Speeches load per item. Summaries shown here are AI-generated and labelled; verbatim text is on each speech page.
- 1 Opening Opening and Chair Change 1 speeches
- 2 Papers Papers Presented: University Reports and Government Documents 4 speeches
- 3 Petitions Petitions Presented 3 speeches
- 4 Oral question Oral Question 10 (125/2025): Sri Lanka Tea Board Investments 15 speeches
- 5 Oral question Oral Questions 6, and continuing questions on Seeds, Tanks, and Immigration 8 speeches
- 6 Oral question Questions under Standing Order 27(2): Executive Presidency and SVAT 29 speeches
- 7 Procedural Privilege Question and Matter of Privilege 13 speeches
- 8 Debate Debate: Penal Code (Amendment) Bill - Second Reading 168 speeches
- 9 Procedural Resolution on Declaration and Adjournment Motion 2 speeches
- 10 Adjournment Adjournment Questions and Adjournment 7 speeches
- 11 Oral question Questions on Defence Advisers, Migrant Workers, and Employment 6 speeches
- The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law SJB
AI summary Dayasiri Jayasekara asked the Minister of Defence to provide details on advisers currently appointed to the Ministry, including their number, roles, remuneration, previous employment, qualifications, and ages. He also requested information on whether staff have been assigned to these advisers, including staff names, positions, salaries, allowances, and any secondment details.
Parliamentary Procedure Full speech → - The Hon. Anura Kumara Dissanayake - President, Minister of Defence, Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and Minister of Digital Economy
AI summary No advisers have been appointed to the Ministry of Defence. Consequently, all follow-up details requested regarding such appointments are not applicable.
Security & Defence Full speech → - The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law SJB
AI summary Dayasiri Jayasekara recorded that the Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, requested two weeks’ time to respond to Questions Nos. 543/2025, 545/2025, and 546/2025. The intervention concerned the postponement of replies to those parliamentary questions.
Parliamentary Procedure Full speech → - The Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara, Attorney-at-Law SJB
AI summary Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism for detailed annual data since 2020 on Sri Lankan migrant worker departures, remittances, and their share of Gross National Product. He also sought information on countries with high demand and better labour-market benefits for Sri Lankan workers, the Government’s programme to meet that demand, annual deployment numbers to those countries, and measures to send highly skilled Sri Lankan workers abroad.
- The Hon. Vijitha Herath - Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism JJB
AI summary Minister Vijitha Herath provided detailed figures on foreign employment and remittances from 2020 to August 2025, stating that 1,304,545 workers went abroad during that period and that remittances ranged from USD 3,789.4 million in 2022 to USD 7,103.9 million in 2020. He identified Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Japan among countries with the highest registered job orders, while noting that Sri Lankan workers most prefer Israel, South Korea, Japan and Romania. He outlined government measures including MoUs and agreements with South Korea, Israel and Japan, discussions with Romania, pre-departure training, job fairs, social media publicity, and Job Bank access. He said South Korea, Israel and Japan offer higher-wage markets with fewer labour issues, and described selection, skills testing, language training, and pre-departure procedures used to send skilled workers to those countries.
- Hon. Vijitha Herath JJB
AI summary Hon. Vijitha Herath outlined the procedures and support measures for sending Sri Lankan workers to Japan and Korea under existing Memoranda of Understanding. For Japan, he referred to residential training, Japanese language instruction, public notices on skill tests, use of licensed foreign employment agencies, district-level language courses, fee reimbursements and information services. For Korea, he described the transparent recruitment process under the E-9 visa scheme, including language, proficiency and skill tests, verification, medical and police clearances, registration in HRD Korea’s system, and pre-departure residential and practical training.