The document before the joint committee was sent to each member on 9 February. It is concerned with the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act 2003. As Deputy Finneran received a copy he forwarded one to me as Chairman. The same document has been recirculated.
Business of Joint Committee.
Was it recirculated?
It was circulated before Committee Stage. In future, the Clerk will circulate any such recommendations in respect of Committee Stage of a Bill to all members of the committee and the relevant Minister.
These were signalled to be considered here today.
It is a repeat of the earlier submission from the Irish League of Credit Unions seeking support for amendments to the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland Act. It is a duplicate that has come back to the committee a second time.
Therefore, we do not have to address it today.
No. It is simply a duplicate.
There are two other issues. The first is the letter from the Secretary General of the Department of Transport with regard to the National Development Finance Agency Act 2002, circulated on 2 March and the second is the letter from Andrea O'Reilly of Threshold, dated 18 February.
The arrangement is that when an item of correspondence is received by the secretariat, it is not immediately circulated until there are other items. The first letter is a follow-on from the Railway Procurement Agency and the earlier statutory instrument that we discussed. We have taken no action because the statutory instrument has already been implemented. It is similar to the letter from the Department of Finance, in that all that can be done is for it to be noted. I did not include that in my schedule. It will be noted.
What about the letter from Andrea O'Reilly of Threshold?
Letters were received from the Carmichael Centre and Threshold seeking changes to the Finance Bill in respect of the tax treatment of charities. I referred to this at the meeting of 4 February with the tax reform group for charities. Both letters were replied to in accordance with the decisions taken on that occasion. It was included with a similar letter from the Carmichael Centre.
Were they replied to?
The Clerk replied to them. In the minutes of 4 February, it was noted that a letter had been received from the Irish Charities Tax Reform Group. It was agreed to inform the group that it would not be practicable for the committee to formally consider its proposals before the Bill was dealt with on Committee Stage and a copy sent to the Minister for Finance for his consideration. It has also been informed, along with Threshold and the Carmichael Centre, that it would not be possible for the committee to meet them in advance of Committee Stage. We referred the correspondence, in all three cases, to the relevant Minister.
The committee receives representations from many groups at different times. When the committee has reviewed an item, either as part of a Bill or as a general discussion, would it be possible for the Clerk to reply to bodies which make representations? In this instance such a reply would point out that the issue of tax relief for charities was raised during a discussion on the Finance Bill 2004. The Clerk should point out that if bodies wish to refer to these debates in detail, they may be accessed via the Dáil website. No reference should be made to any member of the committee.
I am concerned that many of these groups have young researchers working for them who put a great deal of effort into the various submissions which, other than the first acknowledgements from the committee as regards receipt of correspondence, then disappear into the ether. In this instance, the committee should say that the Finance Bill was discussed in the Dáil, giving the relevant dates and Stages, and indicating whether the topic of VAT and charities etc., was raised and that, in the event, the proceedings may be accessed on the website. While reference should not be made to any member of the committee or to the decisions made, they should at least know that the committee met and something happened.
I concur with the Deputy. Such an approach brings some closure to the issue so that it is not left hanging in mid-air.
I endorse Deputy Burton's proposal. At the very least it is a common courtesy that should be extended to all who wish to correspond with the committee. Earlier it was indicated that there would be an automatic response and referral to the Minister. Perhaps Deputy Burton was not present at that point.
I am sorry.
However, she has built on what has already been indicated and agreed. It is worthwhile and I fully support her approach.
We are agreed on the original decision and Deputy Burton's comments. As Chairman, I am aware members of the committee deal with many representations and submissions each year in anticipation of the budget and Finance Bill. Each member has a file of these every year. It is good practice and courtesy and helps bring conclusion to the matter until the following year at least. It also enables people to see an outcome to what eventually happens.
Many of these are researchers. They can access the website, as indicated, and select relevant information. If the information is given to them, without prejudice, that will be sufficient. They are approaching the data from disparate angles, for and against. It is not the job of the committee to get involved in that, but simply to say the matter was debated and can be accessed on the Dáil website. My impression is that many of these are relatively young people, who do a good deal of searching. It would be courteous and encourage them to continue to avail of the process if we indicate that the committee accessed and reviewed the representations made on a given date, without prejudice to the outcome of the discussions.
It would also be beneficial for members of the committee, rather than an individual having to acknowledge the letters of representation received in his or her own right.
That would require a team of secretaries. One cannot write to all of them in detail.
When the committee receives a representation it can say that it will be brought to the attention of the relevant Minister and discussed and that a reply will be issued in due course as regards the outcome. It is also helpful to individuals, since members of the committee receive considerable correspondence in their own right.
On a technical point that I raised previously, is the documentation on the meeting with the National Pension Reserve Fund available as yet? Are the blacks available?
The blacks should be available.
They were not available because of some delay.
I suggest the Deputy tries to access the committee debates. She should be able to get the blacks within a week. However, she will not get the printed book for several months.
Does the Chairman know when the printed book will be available?
It will be months.
Somebody was asking me for it. I said I thought it would be May or June.
I have seen booklets from the Committee of Public Accounts for last October and November only this week.
I wish to raise another technical point that I have mentioned to the Clerk. A number of people on other committees have told me they get newspaper cuttings, in particular members of the Joint Committee on Transport. I am sure the Chairman agrees that this committee gets through an enormous amount of business. It would be helpful, from a research point of view, if a similar clippings service was in place for this committee as regards finance and tax items, even if this only relates to the weekend newspapers. It is onerous to follow up all tax and finance matters. The Joint Committee on Transport gets the relevant clippings on a daily basis, which is useful.
A private commercial service exists which goes through all the papers. I do not know whether the Houses of the Oireachtas avails of its services.
I asked the Clerk about this because the Labour Party member on the Joint Committee on Transport informed me that they get the cuttings. Even a partial service on tax and national finance and economic issues would be helpful because of the volume of business that this committee has to get through.
I have discussed the matter with the Clerk and what the Deputy says is correct. Two committees currently avail of that system, the Joint Committee on Transport and the Committee of Public Accounts. The Committee of Public Accounts has a larger secretariat than any other Oireachtas committee. However, I am advised that inquiries are being made to see whether this can be done through the public relations office of the House or in some co-ordinated manner.
The committee went into private session at3.15 p.m. and resumed in public session at3.25 p.m.
The next meeting of the committee would ordinarily take place on 31 March. However, it is currently envisaged that the select committee will consider Estimates for the Department of the Taoiseach on that day. I envisage that the next meeting of the joint committee will take place on 24 March to consider a draft regulation, which I understand will be referred to us by both Houses of the Oireachtas. We have just received a telephone call from the Department of Finance saying it expects to have a draft regulation for consideration by the committee——
On 24 March.
Possibly on 24 March.
What time of the day? It is a Wednesday.
It will be either at 10.30 a.m. or in the evening.
As I have a speaking engagement at UCD in the afternoon, so the morning suits me better.
Yes.
A meeting at 10.30 on a Wednesday morning does not suits us. We have already clarified that.
We will move it to 11.30 a.m.
Can we meet at 9.30 a.m. because people are over-nighting?
Yes, we can meet at 9.30 a.m. The date for the Department of Finance Estimates is 30 March.
That is a Tuesday.
Yes, 30 March for the Estimates for the Department of Finance and possibly 31 March for the Estimates for the Department of the Taoiseach, but we have to confirm that date. We have set 3 p.m. as the starting time for the meeting on 30 March.
I take it that we are not meeting over Easter.
No, although I have not thought about that yet. I will now adjourn the meeting because there is a vote in the Chamber.
The joint committee adjourned at 3.35 p.m. sine die.