Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Apr 1997

Vol. 478 No. 1

Written Answers. - Public Interest.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

26 Mr. Sargent asked the Taoiseach the plans, if any, the Government has to strengthen the mechanisms whereby the public interest is represented in Government decision making on a day-to-day basis in view of the limited public interest role set out for itself by the Office of the Attorney General in its recently published Statement of Strategy, 1997-99. [10404/97]

The Taoiseach

It would be misleading to suggest that the office of the Attorney General's Statement of Strategy, 1997, seeks to limit the public interest role of the Attorney General or his office. Section 6 of the Ministers and Secretaries Act, 1924, vests, inter alia, in the Attorney General “the administration and business generally of public services in connection with the representation ... of the public in all legal proceedings for the enforcement of law, the punishment of offenders and the assertion or protection of public rights and all powers, duties and functions connected with the same respectively,”. This important function is fully acknowledged in the office of the Attorney General's Statement of Strategy.

Nonetheless, although important, this public interest role is, in a democracy, of necessity a limited one. In a democracy, the primary guarantor of the rights of the citizen must be the legislature, which acts with a mandate from the people. The role of the courts, and of the Attorney General in seeking to enforce public rights, is to supplement rather than to supplant the democratic system; the State should be governed by the rule of law rather than the rule of lawyers. The courts are entitled to intervene where laws, although democratically enacted, are oppressive of the rights of any citizen, but in a democracy this is a power which should be used sparingly.

I am satisfied that the existing mechanisms whereby the Attorney General can and does assert the public interest are effective and adequate. The Attorney General has power to move the courts to restrain interference with public rights. When the Attorney General advises the Government in relation to legislation it proposes to ask the Oireachtas to enact, or any other course of action it wishes to follow, he will always have in the forefront of his mind the question whether that legislation or action would be upheld as lawful by the courts if challenged. To that extent, the Attorney General's role must always take account of public rights, particularly where there is a strong tradition of vigilance by the courts to protect the rule of law. In my view, the existing mechanisms for the protection by the Attorney General of the public interest and the assertion of public rights strike the correct balance.It is of interest to note that, while the Constitution Review Group considered the Attorney General's public interest role, it did not recommend a change in the present position.