I move:
(1) That it is expedient that a Joint Committee on both Houses of the Oireachtas (which shall be called the Joint Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities) be established consisting of—
18 members of Dáil Éireann and 8 members of Seanad Éireann (none of whom shall be a representative in the Assembly of the European Communities)
(a) to examine
(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 Act, 1972 (No. 27 of 1972), and
(iv) such other instruments made under statute and necessitated by the obligations of membership of those Communities as the Committee may select and to report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas; and
(b) to examine the question of dual membership of Dáil Éireann or Seanad Éireann and the European Assembly and to consider the relations between the Irish representatives in the European Assembly and Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann and to report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas;
(2) That provision be made for the appointment of substitutes to act for members of the Joint Committee who are unable to attend particular meetings and that members of either House, not being members of the Joint Committee, be allowed to attend meetings and to take part in the proceedings without having a right to vote;
(3) That representatives in the Assembly of the European Communities, who are also members of either House, be notified of meetings and be allowed to attend and take part in proceedings without having a right to vote;
(4) That the Joint Committee, previous to the commencement of business, shall elect one of its members to be Chairman who shall have only one vote;
(5) That all questions in the Joint 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;
(6) That every report which the Joint Committee proposes to make shall, on adoption of the Joint Committee, be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas forthwith, whereupon the Joint Committee shall be empowered to print and publish such report together with such related documents as it thinks fit; and
(7) That five members of the Joint Committee shall form a quorum of whom at least one shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and at least one shall be a member of Seanad Éireann.
In moving this motion I propose to say a few words about the background to it. The Joint Committee on Secondary Legislation of the European Communities was first established in 1973. It is dissolved when the Dáil and Seanad are dissolved and must be re-constituted by Orders passed by each House of the Oireachtas after a general election. In this case the motion comes to the House first, and I should like to pay compliment to the sense of urgency rightly conveyed through the Senators that the Joint Committee should be established, and in particular to Senator Quinn and Senator Robinson.
One of the results consequent upon our joining the European Communities was that we adopted a new legal order. This means that in areas of Community competence, Community law takes precedence over national law. The implications of this development are far-reaching. It was decided, therefore, that a Joint Committee should be set up to examine Community legislation, and to supervise the implementation of such legislation in Ireland. This gave the Oireachtas an opportunity to influence the formulation and implementation of Community legislation. I understand that of all EEC countries Denmark is the only other country with such a mechanism. The Danish committee has slightly more powers than our own Joint Committee has had but, nevertheless, the principle behind the foundation of the Danish committee is the same as our own Joint Committee and it does very valuable work.
The terms of reference of the Joint Committee, as formulated in 1977, give it authority to examine Community legislation at three stages in the process of its adoption. It may examine legislation at the draft stage, and thereby aid the Government in deciding our attitude during negotiations. Secondly, it may examine Community Acts, and consider how best our obligations thereunder should be implemented. And finally, it may examine ministerial regulations made under the European Communities Act 1972, and instruments, made under other statutes, in order to implement our Community obligations. The new Joint Committee will consist of 18 Members of Dáil Éireann, and eight Members of the Seanad, thus totalling 26, which is the same number as its predecessor.
The Joint Committee has done very useful work since its inception in examining Community legislation. This is a formidable task when one considers the volume of legislation emanating from the Community. Much of it is of a highly complex and technical nature, which makes the task even more demanding. The Joint Committee select for examinaation those draft Acts which they consider of particular importance to Ireland, and they examine all statutory instruments made to implement Community laws. Reports, to the Houses of the Oireachtas, are then prepared on the measures examined by the Joint Committee, and some are debated by both Houses. During the last session, 94 reports were prepared by the Joint Committee, nine of which were considered by the Seanad. Of the nine, two were also considered by the Dáil. They were debated separately, making a total of 11 occasions on which reports of the Joint Committee were considered by the Oireachtas. The motion which is before the House today will establish a new Joint Committee, which will, I am sure, continue the good work of the two previous committees.
When constituting the Joint Committee in 1977, the Government took into account the recommendations which the first Joint Committee made in its 55th Report, published in March 1977. That report examined the function and performance of the Joint Committee and suggested possible changes to improve the workings of future Joint Committees. Amongst the recommendations taken on board in 1977 were, provision for the appointment of substitutes to act for members who are unable to attend particular meetings, and provision that Members of either House of the Oireachtas, though not members of the Joint Committee, be allowed to attend its meetings and take part in proceedings, without having a right to vote. The proposed terms of reference for the forthcoming Joint Committee remain largely the same as in 1977, a reflection of the fact that most of the initial difficulties were identified between 1973, and 1977 and then resolved. The previous Joint Committee worked very well and the Orders of Reference were found to be satisfactory, apart from two recommended changes, which I shall presently set out.
Before the 1979 European elections, Members of the Oireachtas were delegated as members to the European Parliament, and were ex-officio members of the Joint Committee on Secondary Legislation. This latter arrangement was not, in practice, a success, and the terms of reference of the Joint Committee appointed in 1977 expressly stated that Members of the European Parliament would be precluded from the membership of the Joint Committee. They would, however, be notified of meetings, and be allowed to attend and take part in the proceedings without having a right to vote. In a report of March 1980, the Joint Committee recommended certain amendments to its Orders of Reference taking cognizance of the fact that the Assembly is now a directly elected body. It recommended that the phrase which provided that "delegates to the Assembly of the European Communities be notified of meetings and be allowed to attend and take part in the proceedings without having a right to vote", be amended to read that "representatives in the European Assembly, who are also Members of either House of the Oireachtas" have the privilege set out above. This change has been incorporated in the motion before the House. Its effect is merely to formalise an existing state of affairs, namely, that members of the European Parliament are no longer appointed by the Dáil, apart from those filling casual vacancies, but are elected by direct universal suffrage.
The other change recommended by the Joint Committee, namely to delete the phrase which precludes members of the European Parliament from membership of the Joint Committee, has not been adopted. Rather, the whole question of the relationship between MEPs and the Dáil and Seanad will be examined by the Joint Committee. Provision has been made for this by an addition to the terms of reference of the Joint Committee, which gives it a mandate, "to examine the question of dual membership of the Dáil or Seanad and the European Assembly, and to consider the relations between the Irish Representatives in the European Assembly and the Dáil and Seanad ...". The Government consider that the Joint Committee, which has already touched on aspects of this question of the dual mandate, and the overall relationships between the Oireachtas and the European Assembly, is an eminently suitable forum for a further and more detailed examination of this matter.