The next issue on the agenda is the election of a Vice Chairman. I invite proposals for this position.
Election of Vice Chairman
I nominate Deputy John O'Mahony.
I second that.
Are there any other proposals?
I propose Deputy Thomas Pringle. In the spirit of working together, it would be good for the Vice Chairman to come from the Opposition benches.
I second the proposal.
As there is more than one nomination for the position of Vice Chairman, I will deal with the nominations in the order in which I received them.
Question put, "That Deputy John O' Mahony be appointed Vice Chairman of the joint committee"
Question put, "That Deputy John O'Mahony be appointed Vice Chairman of the joint committee."
The Joint Committee divided: Tá, 12; Níl, 7.
Tá
- Barry, Tom.
- Comiskey, Michael.
- Deering, Pat.
- Dowds, Robert.
- Doyle, Andrew.
- Harrington, Noel.
- Heydon, Martin.
- Keaveney, Colm.
- McNamara, Michael.
- O’Mahony, John.
- O’Neill, Pat.
- Whelan, John.
Níl
- Colreavy, Michael.
- Ferris, Martin.
- McGrath, Mattie.
- Mooney, Paschal.
- Ó Cuív, Éamon.
- Ó Domhnaill, Brian.
- Pringle, Thomas.
Question declared carried.
I declare Deputy O'Mahony elected as Vice Chairman. I congratulate him and look forward to working with him in the future.
As the vote is over and I am now in a position to speak, I congratulate the Chairman and the Vice Chairman on their election. I am of the view that an opportunity has been missed. What has happened does not set a good precedent in respect of the future operation of this committee because there is no equality of respect for the views of the Opposition parties. If equality of respect does not extend as far as the election of a Vice Chairman, it is difficult to envisage how there could be equality of respect for the views of Opposition members on some of the fundamental and important issues with which we will be dealing in the future.
There was an opportunity to elect a member of the Opposition as Vice Chairman. I hope we have not set a precedent whereby the Government, by virtue of the majority it holds on the committee, will always be in a position to knock back good suggestions from those in opposition.
I congratulate the Chairman, Deputy Doyle, and the Vice Chairman, Deputy O'Mahony. I look forward to working with them in the years ahead. My experience of previously serving on committees with the Chairman and other Members is that we all work collectively for the greater good. I hope that will continue to be the case. The difficulty has always been that if one holds a position which is contrary to that held by the Government, committee members have felt compelled to vote along party lines, regardless of their views. In the previous Dáil, for example, people from coastal communities were obliged to vote in favour of criminalising fishermen.
Deputy Colreavy's suggestion that the Vice Chairman of the committee should come from the Opposition benches was good. I concur with the views the Deputy has just expressed. However, I hope that we can work together for the greater good of the people and to try to get the country out of the terrible situation in which it currently finds itself. We must protect the rights and entitlements of every citizen, equally and across the board. If a decision had been made to elect someone from the Opposition as Vice Chairman, a good precedent would have been set. However, the opportunity which existed in that regard has been lost.
I congratulate Deputies Doyle and O'Mahony on their election as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. I am a fan of "The Godfather" and its sequels and I recall the great if somewhat cliched statement to the effect that "It's nothing personal, it's strictly business" that was always uttered by characters in those films when decisions were being taken. I wish both Deputies very well.
I congratulate Deputy Doyle on his election as Chairman. He has a deep knowledge of and experience in the areas that come under the committee's remit. I wish him well in his post. I thank those who proposed and seconded me for the position of Vice Chairman. I look forward to working in an equitable way with other members of the committee. I see my role as seeking to make the committee as effective as possible.
The reduction in the number of committees represents a new departure and as the Chairman stated, we will have a wide brief. All of us have an important role to play. As already stated, I see my role of Vice Chairman as being one of facilitating the effectiveness of the committee and of taking on board the views of all members.
Ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dhéanamh leis na Teachtaí Ó Dubhaill agus Ó Mathúna as ucht a bheith tofa mar Chathaoirleach agus mar Leas-Chathaoirleach ar an gcoiste.
I congratulate Deputies Doyle and O'Mahony on their election as Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively. The committees have a huge role to play. From my experience of having attended committee meetings previously, a practice that must be avoided is the pattern whereby members attend for the start of the meeting which commences when there is a quorum, but the numbers quickly decline to three or four members in attendance while the other members leave the meeting early. It is important that all members, where possible, would attend and stay at meetings for their duration. Otherwise, like many things around the Oireachtas, it will be a case of more show than action. It is important that we set out a work programme that is questioning in the broadest sense of policy, decisions made and so on. We must agree to work in a non-partisan manner for the better good of everybody, to ensure that issues that need a public airing are given it, and that issues that perhaps are not critically examined are critically examined at this committee. That could be done if everyone plays their part. I have no doubt the Chairman will give a lead in that regard. I again congratulate him and the Vice Chairman on their appointments.
Thank you, Deputy.
I join other members in congratulating the Chairman on his election and Deputy John O'Mahony on being elected Vice Chairman.
I must express my disappointment in that as a newly elected TD I, and other colleagues, came into the Dáil with great aspirations of achieving something. Many of the Opposition members of the committee have been Government backbenchers at some point and I believe they would join in agreeing that the possibilities of achieving something as a Government backbencher are somewhat more limited than one might like. We were then told that the great promise is the committees. However, on being appointed to committees, the first thing that happens is that the party Whips are applied. I realise the necessity for party Whips in our system of Government to ensure that legislation get passed, which is the primary role of this House. I join Deputy Ó Cuív in genuinely requesting that we have a non-partisan discussion on the major issues that face this country. The Chairman pointed out that if we are to have national recovery, it will be led by the sectors that are discussed in this committee, those of fisheries, agriculture, natural resources, including energy and the possibilities presented by the development of our energy resources. Big decisions have to be made in all those sectors. Previous policies of the last Government, some of which were excellent and some of which were less so, and obviously policies do not change overnight, will have to be examined, as will new proposals. I hope they can be examined in as non-partisan a manner as possible and that backbench Government TDs and Opposition TDs can join together in a spirit of co-operation. That is particularly necessary in this committee and if we do not achieve that, we will fail the people who elected all of us to this House with a very specific job to do in very specific economic circumstances.
I congratulate Deputy Andrew Doyle on being elected Chairman and Deputy O'Mahony on being elected Vice Chairman of the committee. I welcome and agree wholeheartedly with the comments of Deputy McNamara on the workings of the committee. We cannot work in this committee with a partisan approach and very important issues will have to be debated and teased out over its lifetime. I look forward to working with the Chairman and other members of the committee in achieving that.
I, too, compliment the Deputy on his election as Chairman. I worked with him on the former committee and I know he has always been bipartisan in his approach. I congratulate Deputy O'Mahony on his appointment.
I agree with previous speakers that I would like Opposition members to have the opportunity to play their part. That has not been the way in all committee in the past, although it has been in some of them. With the increased number of members on this committee compared to the previous committee, I hope, like other speakers, that it will operate in the spirit that is needed to deal with the many serious issues in the wide range of areas covered by this committee.
Before we go into private session, I acknowledge, with gratitude, all the expressions of good wishes. We will conduct this committee in a non-partisan way. Deputies Ferris, McGrath and I were members of the former agriculture committee and the former climate change committee. The climate change committee, which covered an area for which there was not a Department specifically responsible, achieved a great deal in bringing forward proposed draft legislation and reports ranging from the subject of electric cars to protecting forestry, which fed into Government policy. I take on board what Deputy Ó Cuív said. Our role is to scrutinise but also to develop policy and positions which will help the nation and make the best use of our resources. I have nicknamed our committee "the raw material committee" because we have responsibility for the oversight and scrutiny of our natural raw materials. We have a good deal of work to do and it will be done in a non-partisan if I have anything to do with it.
I propose, with the agreement of members, to go into private session to deal with some housekeeping business, the work programme and other details. Is that agreed? Agreed.
The joint committee went into private session at 2.35 p.m and adjourned at 3 p.m. until 1.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 29 June 2011.