Seán Ryan
Question:7 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Defence when the regulations governing the establishment of the two representative bodies within the Defence Forces will be placed before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Defence Forces Representative Bodies.
Discussions with the elected representatives of officers and of enlisted personnel on Defence Force regulations to provide for the formal establishment of the new representative associations are at an advanced stage and as soon as they are completed the regulations will be placed before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
Arising from the Minister's reply, and given the previous Minister's intimation that the regulations would be placed before the House by the end of last year, can we take it that there are problems with the current negotiations? Second, is there some commitment to finalising those negotiations? Third, will the Minister give a commitment here that he will bring these negotiations to a speedy conclusion and, finally, will there be consultations or discussions in this House on these regulations when they are brought forward?
Certainly we are anxious to have this matter finalised as quickly as possible. There was genuine optimism that that might have happened before the end of last year. Unfortunately that did not materialise for a number of reasons. To date, about 24 meetings have taken place with the elected representatives. These meetings have been held in a very cordial atmosphere and progress has certainly been made. There are one or two little things holding up finalisation, but we hope they can be finalised and agreed at an early date.
Given that the Minister of State says that what is holding up the finalisation are one or two small things, could he give us a firm indication, if we are 99 per cent of the way home, when the regulations will, in fact, be finalised? Are we talking about days, weeks or months? Second, will the regulations be laid before this House and will Government time be made available so that we can discuss them here in view of their wideranging nature and their importance in terms of providing real democracy in our Defence Forces?
The Act required is almost ready. As I indicated there are one or two small things holding up complete agreement between the parties. Every effort is being made to have those matters resolved at an early date.
Will it be days, weeks or months?
I would hope it will be a matter of weeks. I am not making a commitment on that, but I am hopeful.
What about a debate in the House?
These meetings are taking place in a very confidential atmosphere. It would not help the situation if I were to elaborate very much more on it.
Will we have a debate in the House on the regulations?
I am calling Deputy Taylor-Quinn.
I would remind the Minister of the second part of my question.
I will call the Deputy again, if necessary.
Has the newly appointed Minister, Deputy Daly, met both representative groups since his appointment?
I do not know.
If the Minister has not actually met them, how does he propose to get the regulations before the House quickly, and how does he expect the details to be finalised if meetings are not taking place?
I can assure the Deputy that her constituency colleague will be available at any time when the opportunity arises to finalise the matter.
The fourth part of my original question referred to an important issue that was raised when this Bill was going through, that is, the necessity to have these regulations discussed in this Chamber. I now ask the Minister will he give a commitment and not evade the questions being asked by Deputy McCartan and me? Can we have a commitment that these regulations will be discussed in this Chamber?
I can see no difficulty in that regard at all.
I welcome that.