I move:
(1) That a Select Committee of Dáil Éireann consisting of 25 members of Dáil Éireann, excluding the ex officio members of the Committee referred to in paragraph (7), be appointed to be joined with a Select Committee of Seanad Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs.
(2) That the Joint Committee shall have power to appoint sub-Committees and to delegate any matter comprehended by paragraphs (4), (8), (9) and (10) to a sub-Committee.
(3) That the Select Committee of Dáil Éireann shall consider the Estimates for Public Services submitted to Dáil Éireann in respect of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and report thereon to Dáil Éireann and the Select Committee shall have power to appoint a sub-Committee for this purpose.
(4) That a Bill initiated by the Minister for Foreign Affairs or a Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs having passed its Second Stage may on motion made in Dáil Éireann by a Member of the Government or a Minister of State be referred, with the concurrence of Seanad Éireann, to the Joint Committee.
(5) That the report of the Joint Committee upon every Bill originating in Dáil Éireann which is referred to it shall be set down for Report Stage in Dáil Éireann.
(6) That in the case of a Bill originating in Seanad Éireann, the motion of referral in Dáil Éireann shall constitute a Second Reading of the Bill and the debate thereon shall be confined to the general principle of the Bill and where the Third Stage has been dealt with in the Joint Committee, the Bill shall on its receipt in Dáil Éireann after being passed by Seanad Éireann be set down for Report Stage, the First, Second and Third Stages being waived.
(7) That the Minister for Foreign Affairs shall be an ex officio member of a Committee or sub-Committee which is considering—
(i) a Bill referred to it, or
(ii) Estimates for Public Services,
and may nominate a Minister or Minister of State to be such ex officio member in his stead.
(8) That the Joint Committee shall consider the impact on equality of policy and legislation in respect of the Department of Foreign Affairs and report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
(9) That the Joint Committee shall consider such aspects of Ireland's international relations, including its cooperation with developing countries, and such matters arising from Ireland's membership of the European Communities and its adherence to the Treaty on European Union as the Joint Committee may select and report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
(10) That the Joint Committee shall, in particular, consider:
(i) such programmes and guidelines prepared by the Commission of the European Communities as a basis for possible legislative action and such drafts of regulations, directives, decisions, recommendations and opinions of the Council of Ministers proposed by the Commission,
(ii) such acts of the institutions of those Communities,
(iii) such regulations under the European Communities Acts, 1972 to 1993, and
(iv) such other instruments made under statute and necessitated by the obligations of membership of those Communities
as the Committee may select and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
(11) That any consideration by the Joint Committee, the Select Committee or a sub-Committee of security issues relating to Northern Ireland shall be in private session.
(12) That Dáil Éireann may refer reports relevant to the Department of Foreign Affairs to the Joint Committee for discussion, observations and recommendations, and the Joint Committee shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.
(13) That the Joint Committee shall make an annual report to both Houses of the Oireachtas which shall detail:
(i) the work carried out by the Committee,
(ii) the work in progress by the Committee,
(iii) the attendance and voting records at meetings of the Committee,
(iv) its future work programme, and
(v) such other matters as the Committee deems appropriate.
(14) That the Select Committee, the Joint Committee and each sub-Committee shall have power to send for persons, but information need not be provided to a Committee or a sub-Committee if a Member of the Government certifies in writing that such information is confidential or that its disclosure would be prejudicial to the State's international relations.
(15) That the Select Committee and the Joint Committee shall have power, subject to the consent of the Minister for Finance, to engage the services of persons with specialist or technical knowledge to assist them for the purpose of particular enquiries.
(16) That in the absence from a particular meeting of the Select Committee, of the Joint Committee or of a sub-Committee of a member who is a Member of Dáil Éireann, another Member of Dáil Éireann nominated by the Party or group within the meaning of Standing Order 89 to which the absent Member belongs may take part in the proceedings and vote in his or her stead; and that Members of Dáil Éireann, not being members of the Joint Committee, may attend meetings and take part in the proceedings of the Joint Committee and of its sub-committees without having a right to vote.
(17) That Members of the European Parliament elected from constituencies in Ireland (including Northern Ireland) may attend meetings of the Joint Committee and of its sub-Committees; and that other Members of the European Parliament may, at the invitation of the Joint Committee or of a sub-Committee, attend particular meetings. Members of the European Parliament attending on such occasions may take part in proceedings without having a right to vote or to table amendments to Bills referred to the Committee under paragraph (4).
(18) That the Select Committee, the Joint Committee and each sub-Committee previous to the commencement of business, shall elect one of its members to be Chairperson, who shall have only one vote.
(19) That all questions in the Select Committee, the Joint Committee and each sub-Committee shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting and in the event of there being an equality of votes, the question shall be decided in the negative.
(20) That every report which the Select Committee or the Joint Committee proposes to make shall, on adoption by the Committee, be laid before Dáil Éireann or, in the case of a report by the Joint Committee, both Houses of the Oireachtas forthwith, together with any document relating thereto which the Committee proposes to publish, whereupon the Committee shall be empowered to print and publish such report and the said document, or documents, as the case may be.
(21) That notwithstanding paragraph (20) where the Joint Committee has completed Committee Stage of a Bill, it shall be empowered to print and publish the said Bill as amended, where appropriate.
(22) That the quorum of the Joint Committee shall be 8, of whom at least one shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and at least one shall be a member of Seanad Éireann, the quorum of the Select Committee shall be 6 and the quorum of each sub-Committee shall be a number to be decided by the sub-Committee when such sub-Committee is appointed.
(23) That no document received by the Clerk to the Select Committee, the Joint Committee or a sub-Committee shall be withheld, withdrawn or altered without the knowledge and approval of such Committee."
The establishment of a Foreign Affairs Committee is a landmark. It is many years since the idea of such a committee was first proposed; I am particularly pleased that it falls to me as Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs to present the terms of reference of the committee for the approval of this House.
In the formulation of foreign policy, we confront issues of fundamental importance in our national life. Through the values we espouse, the choices we make and the balance we achieve between competing priorities, we define ourselves as a people. It is entirely right that an all-party forum should exist in which the full range of issues can be addressed and policy options weighed.
The expertise and advice that such a committee can provide has rarely been more necessary. I need hardly emphasise the pace of change in international life — accounts of the flashpoints and trouble spots around the world crowd our newspapers and television screens. If there ever were easy choices in the foreign policy area, they are no longer available to us. The slogans and clichés around which Cold War politics were built have become redundant but with East and West no longer able to define themselves in terms of opposition to the other, there is an urgent need for a new framework of reference within which international life can be structured.
Despite much heralding, it is still difficult to discern anything like the beginnings of a new world order. With an are of trouble spots around the world, the situation on our own continent gives little cause for reassurance. Eastern Europe is fractured by ethnic tension while a degree of self-doubt seems to have taken hold in the West. The situation in the former Yugoslavia is shamefully reminiscent of the darkest period in European history. The question as to whether more could and should have been done earlier to stop the spread of the poison is one that the international community — the EC, the UN, all of us — must confront.
The challenge is to define the values which should guide Irish foreign policy at this time of radical change in the international environment. There is no single formula which will serve for all situations, but we can at least seek to identify the central ingredients around which policy must be formed. As we launch the Foreign Affairs Committee, it is important to suggest at least some of these key elements. I will begin by identifying the following — knowledge, consistency and focus.
The first of these, a basis of knowledge, may seem almost too obvious to deserve mention. However, our credibility as a participant in discussion, in the European Community, the United Nations or elsewhere, rests on such a foundation. We are not absolved by pleading small country status; our ability to influence discussion rests not simply on the strength of our convictions but on our ability to demonstrate that we are informed and worthwhile interlocutors. The first hand information on which policy is based comes primarily from our network of 40 or so diplomatic missions around the world: supplementing that, however, is the experience gained through a variety of other sources, including our involvement with UN peacekeeping and the overseas aid work being done by so many Irish volunteers around the world.
I am conscious that many Members of the Dáil and Seanad have considerable foreign policy expertise, sometimes with a degree of specialisation in a particular area. Through an effective use of the sub-committee system, I hope that the Foreign Affairs Committee will lead to a pooling and broadening of knowledge which will substantially strengthen the basis for policy formation.
By "consistency" I do not mean a rigidity that effectively strait-jackets policy but it is legitimate and proper that the same questions are asked, and equivalent standards brought to bear, in differing situations around the world. Exploitation and terrorism wear an equally ugly face in whatever continent they manifest themselves. Historical and cultural contexts differ but the fundamental human rights are universally applicable and require universal respect. In Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South Africa, we can try to unravel the complexities of troubled situations by applying the same basic tests. Even if the categories of aggressor and victim are not always watertight, there is rarely an equivalence of moral responsibility in conflicts. Our instinctive concern must be with those whose rights are being violated, whatever the political orientation or international standing of those who seek to violate those rights.
I am confident that, in taking an overview of foreign policy, the Foreign Affairs Committee will share my concern to ensure that these important threads of consistency run through our responses to different situations.
In parallel with our examination of problems around the world, we should not refrain from holding the mirror up to ourselves. By international standards our human rights record is creditable but we should frankly admit that we have not always shown ourselves enthusiastic in our implementation of corrective measures on the few occasions when international human rights tribunals have found this country to be in breach of human rights agreements to which we are party. We are not immune from the illusion that international human rights norms apply only to others or from feelings of resentment at `outsiders' telling us that our laws or practices are in breach of international human rights standards. If the Foreign Affairs Committee feels it necessary to prod our conscience in this regard, I will certainly not discourage it.
The third quality, which I have described as focus, is a little more difficult to define than the previous two. We should not be — nor as members of the European Community can we be — selective in our knowledge or concern. But it is perhaps overly ambitious for a small country seeking an effective foreign policy role to attempt to be equally active on all issues on the international agenda. There are usually certain touchstone issues — in Irish foreign policy, for example, these have traditionally been disarmament, human rights and relations with the developing world. Some problems around the world will also select themselves for our attention, whether because of an historical affinity, a peace-keeping or aid involvement or a human rights aspect which engages us. Our contribution on these issues and problems will tend to establish the defining characteristics of our foreign policy.
The Foreign Affairs Committee will have an important role in providing a barometer of concern on the multiplicity of issues we confront. I do not suggest that political leaders should always follow where public concern leads; it is essential however, that policy formulators should fully appreciate when a particular issue or situation has struck a chord with Irish people. Conversely, it is important that politicians and the public should be aware when and why a particular issue may be felt to merit a special policy focus, even if it is not at the time dominating media attention.
As all Deputies are aware, Irish foreign policy is increasingly formulated in partnership with other members of the European Community; this process will of course accelerate with the advance towards a Common Foreign and Security Policy under the Maastricht Treaty. Fears have been expressed that the distinctive Irish voice may become muffled within the CFSP; on the contrary, our ability to influence external events can be strengthened by vigorous and principled participation in the framing of Community positions.
The architecture of the Common Foreign and Security Policy is established in the Maastricht Treaty; however, its vitality and effectiveness will be judged by its implementation in practice. In the attempt to give shape and direction to the CFSP, it is important that we are clear-sighted about potential risks and pitfalls. At one extreme, the attempt to define common positions could drift towards a lowest common denominator approach which would render Community policies anodyne and ineffective. At the other extreme, in seeking to avoid excessive dilution, there is a risk that the voices of some of the larger member states could predominate in establishing the tone and tenor of policy.
For our part, we want a dynamic CFSP that ensures a coherent, respected and effective Community voice in the world. We want to see our national values and priorities reflected in the common positions adopted, while at the same time being prepared to make the necessary adjustment to the requirements of partnership that is incumbent on all member states. The balance to be achieved will sometimes be a delicate one, requiring good judgment and a keen sense of perspective, and the advice and input of the Foreign Affairs Committee will be particularly important.
So far I have spoken about the political rather than the economic content of our foreign policy. But foreign policy is as much about our economic well-being as our political self-respect. Indeed, it is where the two are potentially in conflict that the advice of the Foreign Affairs Committee may prove most valuable.
Many of the issues we encounter at political level have a signficant economic dimension, and there is of course a large proportion of foreign affairs work which is essentially economic in character. Our membership of the EC, on which so much of our foreign policy focuses, conditions every aspect of the economic life of this country. The promotion of foreign earnings is a central preoccupation for almost all our overseas missions and a key consideration in establishing priorities for the further expansion of our diplomatic network.
It is clear that, in the economic area especially, the committee's overview and investigative brief will extend well beyond the limits of the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs; indeed, the effects of our European membership are so pervasive that there is hardly any Government Department which is not to some degree affected by EC activity. I am confident that the committee can count on the full co-operation of all Departments in its deliberations.
I would propose to turn now to some of the specific issues arising in the terms of reference of the Foreign Affairs Committee. Firstly, let me state briefly what I think is right about these terms of reference before I try to respond to what some Members of the House may feel is wrong with them. In my view, among the very positive features are — the comprehensive mandate of the committee, the fact that it will be a joint committee of the Dáil and Seanad, drawing on the experience and expertise which has been accumulated in both Houses, the scope for the establishment of sub-committees, the fact that all Members of both Houses will have the right to attend meetings and participate in deliberations, without having the right to vote, the important linkage with the European Parliament, with all Irish MEPs having the right to attend and participate and MEPs from other member states able to attend by invitation and the fact that the committee may produce such reports as it chooses, following its consideration of particular issues or policy areas.
The principal focus of criticism has been the fact that there will not be a separate European Communities committee and that the new committee will subsume the existing Joint Committee on Secondary Legislation of the European Communities. I acknowledge also the concerns expressed about the earlier proposal that discussion on political and security issues relating to Northern Ireland would be held in private. I would draw the attention of Deputies to the important amendment which has been made to the terms of reference in this latter respect.
On the first point, I must confess to having some difficulty in understanding the basis for the concerns expressed. It seems to me that two separate Committees on Foreign Affairs and European Affairs would almost inevitably lead to overlap and duplication; it would be wholly undesirable that the energies and attention of Oireachtas Members should be frittered away in artificial boundary disputes between a Foreign Affairs and a European Affairs Committee.
As I have tried to suggest earlier, practically the whole spectrum of foreign policy issues is increasingly seen through the prism of our European Community membership. To try to discuss our attitude to the Middle East, for example, in isolation from Community positions on the Middle East could hardly make sense. The same is true of practically any other issue in the international political arena. It is almost equally difficult to divorce discussion on economic issues from the wider context. Any serious debate on EC agricultural, industrial or trade policies, for example, involves consideration of EC relations with the US, the developing world, its role in GATT etc.
I understand there is also a concern that subsuming the existing Joint Committee on Secondary Legislation of the European Communities will overload the Foreign Affairs Committee with consideration of essentially technical issues. For my part, I would question such a dismissive attitude towards the very valuable work that has been done to date by the Joint Committee. However, I feel that any genuine concerns on this score can be met by setting up a sub-committee specifically to deal with work previously dealt with by the Joint Committee on Secondary Legislation of the European Communities. I would have thought that, with a total Committee membership of 30, there is ample scope for the intelligent use of sub-committees.
I referred a moment ago to concerns expressed about the earlier proposal that discussion of political and security issues relating to Northern Ireland would be in private. As Deputies will note from the revised terms of reference which have been circulated, these have been amended to provide that only security issues will now be dealt with in private.
I would like to make my position on this security exception unambiguously clear. Like others in this House, I share a belief in open government and a strong sense that, in principle, members of the public should have full access to discussions being conducted among their elected representatives. I believe, however, that there are circumstances in which a departure from this principle is justified.
It is hardly necessary to emphasise the sensitivity of discussion on security matters relating to Northern Ireland. Security issues can involve, quite literally, matters of life and death. We have an overriding duty — and I am sure that this is accepted by all Members of the House — to ensure that nothing in our proceedings or discussions can put at risk the personal safety of any individual or group. The caution that would necessarily and properly be induced by the presence of the public and the media would in my view inhibit meaningful discussion on security issues relating to Northern Ireland. I invite Deputies to consider, for example, the difficulties that would be involved for the Department of Justice in briefing Deputies on these matters in a public setting.
As I have said, it is now envisaged that the committee's discussions on political issues relating to Northern Ireland will be in public. In initially suggesting private discussion on political matters, I had thought to encourage a depth and openness in exchanges that, given the special circumstances of Northern Ireland, might not be attainable in public. On the other hand I fully recognise the importance of ensuring sustained public debate on the crucial political issues relating to Northern Ireland. Indeed, since coming into office I have done everything possible to initiate and encourage such debate. On balance, and having reflected carefully on the arguments advanced by various Deputies, I am prepared to accept that the value of having committee discussions take place in public is likely to outweigh any potential disadvantages. The terms of reference have been amended to reflect this.
Before concluding, I would like to underline again how much I am personally looking forward to working with the Foreign Affairs Committee, as also is the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy Tom Kitt. I hope there will be an opportunity to participate in an early meeting of the committee, perhaps for a discussion on departmental Estimates as envisaged in the terms of reference. I would emphasise also that this positive approach is fully shared by officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs, who welcome the opportunity for indepth discussion that the committee will provide.
We are all aware that there is no monopoly of wisdom on the complex issues which arise in the foreign policy area. To date the opportunities for serious debate on many of these issues have been limited. While Question Time in the House is an essential and valuable part of the parliamentary process, the format lends itself to an adversarial approach and does not necessarily encourage the most considered statements by questioners or the most forthcoming attitude on the part of respondents.
The Foreign Affairs Committee will provide an opportunity for consensus-building on a basis of shared knowledge and measured consideration of options. Inevitably, there will be situations and issues on which consensus does not emerge, and responsibility for decision-making ultimately of course rests with the Government; the fact that there are honest differences of opinion cannot be allowed to paralyse policy formulation. However, with a constructive approach all round, I am convinced that a considerable degree of agreement will prove possible; and even where it does not the committee discussion will be immensely valuable in helping to broaden perspectives, improve the flow of information and overall enhance the quality of decision making.
I thank the Government Chief Whip, the Assistant Whip and the Whips of the Fine Gael, the Progressive Democrat and Democratic Left Parties for their assistance and co-operation in formulating the terms of reference of this committee. I am sure similar co-operation on that committee will augur well for it.