Parliamentary inquiry

Parliamentary inquiry (RONR)

Class	Incidental motion
In order when another has the floor?	Yes
Requires second?	No
Debatable?	No
May be reconsidered?	No
Amendable?	No
Vote required	Is not voted on, but is responded to by chair

Request for information (RONR)

Class	Incidental motion
In order when another has the floor?	Yes
Requires second?	No
Debatable?	No
May be reconsidered?	No
Amendable?	No
Vote required	Is not voted on

Request for permission to withdraw or modify a motion (RONR)

Class	Incidental motion
In order when another has the floor?	If not granted by unanimous consent, can be moved by person requesting permission, or by another while the former has the floor
Requires second?	Yes, if motion is made by person requesting permission; no, if made by another member
Debatable?	No
May be reconsidered?	As to withdrawal, negative vote only; as to modification, yes
Amendable?	No
Vote required	Majority

Request to read papers (RONR)

Class	Incidental motion
In order when another has the floor?	If not granted by unanimous consent, can be moved by person requesting permission or by another while the former has the floor
Requires second?	Yes, if motion is made by person requesting permission; no, if made by another member
Debatable?	No
May be reconsidered?	Yes
Amendable?	No
Vote required	Majority

Request for any other privilege (RONR)

Class	Incidental motion
In order when another has the floor?	Yes
Debatable?	No
May be reconsidered?	Yes
Amendable?	No
Vote required	Majority vote, although usually handled by unanimous consent

Request to be excused from a duty (RONR)

Class	Incidental motion
In order when another has the floor?	Yes
Requires second?	Yes, if motion is made by member to be excused, no, if made by another member
Debatable?	Yes
May be reconsidered?	Negative vote only
Amendable?	Yes
Vote required	Majority

In parliamentary procedure, requests and inquiries are motions used by members of a deliberative assembly to obtain information or to do or have something done that requires permission of the assembly. Except for a request to be excused from a duty, these requests and inquiries are not debatable nor amendable.

At a meeting, members may want to obtain information or request to do something that requires permission from the assembly. These requests and inquiries are in order when another has the floor if they require immediate attention. The requests and inquiries include a parliamentary inquiry, request for information, request for permission to withdraw or modify a motion, request to read papers, and request for any other privilege. Also, a member could request to be excused from a duty.

When a member is unsure about the rules or procedures applying to a certain situation in a meeting, the member can ask the chairman a parliamentary inquiry. The primary purpose is to enable members to obtain the chair's guidance so they can take the appropriate action.

A parliamentary inquiry is sometimes used as a tactful alternative to a call for the orders of the day, or a point of order.

Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure states, "It is not, however, the presiding officer's duty to answer general questions concerning parliamentary law." The chair is also not obligated to answer hypothetical questions. This motion is made by saying, "Mr. Chairman, I rise to a parliamentary inquiry."

In parliamentary procedure, a request for information is a request directed to the chair, or through the chair to another person, for information relevant to the business at hand. Prior to the 11th edition of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised, this device was known as "point of information." The change was made to avoid the common misconception that this motion was to provide information instead of correctly being a request.

The information sought in the request generally pertains to the substantive matter under discussion, and therefore the request is distinct from a parliamentary inquiry, which requests information related to parliamentary procedure. If another member responds to the question, then any time he spends doing so is taken out of his allowed time. Accordingly, if a request for information is used to interrupt someone's speech to ask them a question, the chair asks the member if he is willing to be interrupted. A request for information can be used to remind a member of a point to be made in argument or with the intention of rebutting his position, but it must always be put in the form of a question.

...
Wikipedia