The next two Regulations relate to merchandise road transport and road passenger transport. The Directive in this case obliges Member States to impose requirements of good repute, financial standing and professional competence on persons seeking admission to the occupation of road haulage operator.
Similar provisions apply in relation to the occupation of road transport (bus) operators. Are there any comments on that? I will have to be interrupted violently.
The Directive allows an exemption from the provision of the Directive for persons or undertakings engaged exclusively in national transport operations having only a minor impact on the transport market because of the nature of the goods or the short distance involved. In fact, cattle, sheep and pigs have been exempted under the language used. The Committee has decided, having read the report of the debate on the Road Transport Act, 1971, that in our country's interests there are good reasons for exempting the haulage of cattle, sheep and pigs from national licensing control and, accordingly, the Committee feel that there are equally valid reasons for exempting such haulage from EEC requirements.
The next point is that there is provision that the Member States may exempt after consultation with the Commission, but there is no indication that the consultation took place. The suggestion is that the Committee should express the view that it should be apparent from the text of the Regulation that such a procedural matter as a consultation has in fact been complied with. In this case the Commission have not issued a recommendation; and it is suggested that the Committee should take the view that, as long as the Commission have been informed and been given an opportunity of expressing a view, that the consultation has been regarded as effected.
There is provision for the payment of fees to the Minister. In fact, the Minister has given resposibility to the Chartered Institute of Transport for running the courses, giving the certificates of competency in question, charging fees and so on. The institute will be charging the fees although none have as yet been charged. The Sub-Committee accept that the charging of fees may constitute an incidental, supplementary and consequential provision and agree that it is not unreasonable to include a provision for fees in the Regulations. The Sub-Committee does not accept the view that Ministers are entitled to delegate to themselves or others the power to fix and vary the fees administratively. Such action removes fees completely from the control which the Houses of the Oireachtas are seeking to exercise through the Joint Committee over regulations made under the European Communities Act, 1972. In other words, they should be specified and be subject to examination, review and observation by the Joint Committee. In relation to these it is not clear whether the Minister intends to exercise any control over the institute's charges. The Sub-Committee suggests that the Joint Committee should opine that the provision should be amended to reflect the actual position. If there is a decision to impose fees the Regulations should specify the amount, which would then be subject to scrutiny.
The next Regulations relate to measuring container bottles. These provide for checks to be carried out by an inspector of weights and measures and for the charging for the services of the inspector of such fees as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, determines. The Committee asked whether these could not have been specified and on that the Department indicated that there will be a new statute with a provision relating to fees which would eliminate the problem for the Joint Committee.
The next Regulation relates to the Sea Fisheries (Conservation and Rational Exploitation) Orders. The point here relates to the fact that there is a question arising about the direct applicability of Community Regulations. The view has been expressed in a number of cases by the Court of Justice that no procedure is permissible whereby the Community nature of a legal rule is concealed. This point is accepted and it is also accepted that in certain cases to make the Regulation in question effective supporting measures may be necessary, but the order in question should not repeat the council regulations so as to, in effect, conceal the Community nature of the legal rule from those who are bound by it. There is also a smaller point, that the actual date on which the Community Regulation came into effect was July 31 1977 but the Ministerial Order did not come into effect until August 4 1977.
As regards the European Community (Cold-Water Meters) Regulations, where the wrong section of the European Communities Act, 1972, was cited, we are assuming that the Attorney General has advised that this does not affect its validity.
The next four orders relate to miscellaneous textiles and miscellaneous textile piece goods. The instruments effect amendments and modifications of the Control of Imports Orders to bring them into line with the EEC requirements. None of them refers to the Community secondary legislation. On two of them the Department admit that the omission was an inadvertent departure from the usual practice. In relation to others of them the Department argue that the references to European Community legislation would not have been appropriate but nonetheless say that, in deference to views expressed by the previous Joint Committee, they are considering in future cases the publication of a reference, either in an explanatory note or in the appropriate Report to the Houses of the Oireachtas on Developments in the European Communities. The Joint Committee, it is suggested, should express agreement with its predecessor that the relevance of any Community secondary legislation should be apparent from perusal of the instrument; it should not be sufficient to include it in the six-monthly report. The reference should be embodied either in an appropriate preamble or suitably worded in the ordinary citation of authority. If there is no reference in the text full information should be given in the Explanatory Memorandum.
The next Regulation relates to cut flowers, flowering bulbs and ornamental foliage. A number of points arise on this instrument. The Regulation, or a Regulation of the Regulations—that is, of the Regulations which we are considering—provides that a person who displays or offers for sale, puts on sale, sells, supplies or otherwise markets, or exports or imports, or holds or transports any produce or product in contravention of certain articles of the Community Regulation shall be guilty of and liable on summary conviction to a fine. The Department contend that the provision does not suggest that each of the acts is capable of being a contravention. The Regulation about which the point was made, Regulation 4 of the Statutory Instrument, leaves it to the reader to consult Council Regulations. It is suggested that the Joint Committee should not accept this, that the reader should not be put to trouble which could have been avoided if the prohibitions had been set out separately in the domestic instrument.
The next point on this is that the Regulation deals with the business of selling, supplying or otherwise marketing. . . . The business of selling by wholesale or of importing, exporting any produce mentioned. The Department have argued that the reference to " selling " or " supplying " must be interpreted as including any enterprise involved in exporting to third countries. It is suggested that the Joint Committee should express the view that this should clearly be expressed as including the business of exporting to third countries because of the use of these words elsewhere in the Regulation itself.
The next Regulations are the European Communities (Non-Life Insurance Accounts) Regulations. Very simply the point here is the complaint by the Irish Insurance Association that the Regulation, which is a very comprehensive document, is discriminatory in the type of information it requires from syndicates of Lloyds and the information required from insurance companies. They say that this gives an advantage which is competitively favourable to Lloyds and damaging to the insurance companies. They say that they, being companies, have to lodge their documents in the Companies Registration Office; but Lloyds syndicates, not being companies, their documents are available only in the Oireachtas Library to which the insurance companies do not have access. The Joint Committee accepts that the Department are doing their very best to get all the information they can on this, and the fact is that they have got more information from Lloyds than any other part of the world has succeeded in doing. It goes on to say that it wishes the Minister to continue doing this. It also expresses the view that the documents laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas have become, by virtue of the Standing Orders of the Houses, public documents, and accordingly that copies should be supplied to the Irish Insurance Association and to any insurance company who asks for them.
The next Regulation relates to aliens and provides for the appointment of an authority to consider representations from persons affected against adverse decisions, one category being those EEC nationals who have been lawfully in the State and are subsequently refused leave to land. This does not arise from any specific provision in the Directives which this Regulation is implementing. For that reason the Joint Committee has the duty of considering whether it constitutes an acceptable use of power. The Sub-Committee has reached the conclusion that the provision is a reasonable one, and broadly in line with the objectives of the Council Directives. It has concluded that it is a reasonable use of the power conferred on the Minister under section 3 (2) of the European Communities Act, 1972.
The next two Regulations are in regard to tobacco products. A Council Directive provided for harmonisation of excise duties. The system was in fact introduced in Ireland by the Finance (Excise Duty on Tobacco Products) Act, 1977, which empowered the Revenue Commissioners to make regulations, and this has been availed of in Statutory Instrument No. 389. That deals with various matters. The Act gives the authority to make particular Regulations. The other Statutory Instrument specifies rates of duty. Because it arises out of earlier statutes than the Act of 1977, it requires confirmation by an Act of the Oireachtas. Senators Ryan, Mulcahy and I should be over there now getting it confirmed by section 28 of the Finance Bill instead of engaging in what we are doing.
We are more or less at the end of this affair. It was suggested that we should express the view with regard to these instruments that they do not come within our terms of reference in so far as we are not going to express views on what will be covered by statute and which will be done by the body that has authorised our existence.
