Thank you, Chair, and I thank Senators for the invitation to be here with them for this introductory session. I am delighted to work with them and both I and my officials, whom I know the committee has met in private, really look forward to working with them constructively.
I also know that the committee has met twice with my predecessor, the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. I want to formally record in my position as Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs my formal support for the establishment of the committee and for its work on the scrutiny of EU-related statutory instruments. I note that the committee wishes to have an introductory meeting this morning to discuss the scrutiny process and to discuss the role of the committee. I suggest that we touch upon some specific areas, including the process of transposing European Union directives under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972. As the Cathaoirleach has stated, the objectives and the remit of the committee is to scrutinise, potentially, my role as Minister of State for European Affairs, the expected outcome for the Seanad and the different Departments, the role and the interaction between this committee and sectoral joint committees, and how this committee could add value and get what it needs to get from that scrutiny so that the Parliament is playing an important role in our EU affairs. I do not prejudge any of the committee's views and I look forward to discussing these matters with the committee.
There is no doubt that the impact of the European Union over the past 50 years has contributed positively to the lives of Irish citizens. The State's development has been fundamentally shaped by our membership of the European Union. Much of that is by EU legislation where Ireland is part of the Council of Ministers and where the European Parliament has assented through the co-decision process, and this legislation has been shaped in many ways at earlier stages. It is entirely right that the proposals from the European Commission are properly scrutinised by our national Parliament and by national parliaments generally. Many of those proposals are brought forward following extensive consultations, not just at technical level but also with member state administrations and, increasingly, through Europe-wide citizen consultations.
Under the established scrutiny arrangements agreed by successive Governments and the Oireachtas, when a legislative proposal is published by the Commission, the Department of Foreign Affairs ensures that the relevant Government Department provides an information note on the proposal to the Oireachtas within 20 working days. In line with the arrangements which have applied since 2011, the scrutiny of those proposals is mainstreamed to the relevant joint sectoral committee. Sectoral committees may also seek additional information in respect of individual proposals and call witnesses including Ministers. That is an important role for sectoral committees which have developed a body of expertise and knowledge and I certainly think that that is a very important role for them.
The House does occasionally follow through on some of the proposals and issues and raises a political opinion on some of those, often on grounds of subsidiarity. Committees may also provide their observations on any EU proposals to the relevant Minister so that those can be taken into account and whether those proposals are proceeding to relevant Councils for decision. That sort of pre-scrutiny element is very important and I wonder how we can think about enhancing that to provide for the shape for the Oireachtas at earlier stages of development. I would love to get the opinions of the committee members on that.
Once a directive is agreed at Council and subsequently published within the European Parliament, typically member states are given two years within which to transpose it. Following adoption, the room for manoeuvre for member states in any EU directive is fairly limited. The policy choices have been made and the member states very much must bring the directive into force by the relevant deadline.
In any year there may be in the region of 20 to 40 co-decision directives to be transposed. Those numbers, I believe, have fallen steadily in recent years as the overall volume of new legislation directives, in particular coming from the Commission has reduced. In some cases, transposing these directives by primary legislation may be most appropriate and, if so, will fall outside of the remit of this committee. Nevertheless, members will still have a role as members of the Oireachtas. Otherwise these EU directives will be transposed by secondary legislation usually, as I have said, under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972, which, of course, is the focus of this committee's work.
I understand that when the Government was agreeing to the Seanad proposals for the establishment of this committee, strong advice was received from the Attorney General that the new process should not in any way hinder the completion of regulations by Ministers and Departments to transpose EU directives as failure to do so can inevitably lead to the opening of infringement proceedings. We might talk about infringement proceedings and timing separately but I think it is an important point to note. I wonder in discussion with the committee that the focus on these directives should be as soon as possible after publication because that is when the greatest opportunity is for Ministers to take account of the views of this Seanad committee or, indeed, of any sectoral committees, where these directives may be referred to them for further scrutiny by this committee.
Also with regard to scope, the Government also agreed that scrutiny of statutory instruments providing for technical definition updates, say, for example, the designation of a special area of conservation or, indeed, concerning EU sanctions or restrictive measures are outside of the scope of this new process.
At the recent meeting with officials, the committee asked that in addition to the regular co-decision directives, the committee be provided with information on delegated and implementing directives as these are published. Accordingly, the Department has recently written to Departments asking that the committee be provided with information on all directives which were published during the course of 2023 which, I believe, is some 23 in total.
The committee, of course, is aware that Ireland will assume the Presidency on the next occasion on 1 July 2026. The Department is working very steadily towards that and it is a very important honour for the State to hold that position. The Tánaiste in a memorandum to Government last year tasked Ministers and their Departments to have all EU directives which are due, to be transposed on time by 1 July 2026. That is going to be challenging. It was achieved before in our previous Presidency in 2013 and it was only the second time across the EU that this had been done. It is a very important objective for us and would be a very important statement by Ireland to have achieved that by 1 July 2026 but we will need the help of the committee in the approach that is taken to achieve that and in the granularity of ensuring that it is done. I very much look forward to seeing the expertise and the experience of the esteemed Seanad committee members who are so experienced in this being utilised in helping us to scrutinise draft EU -related statutory instruments, to improve the transposition of EU legislation here in Ireland and, indeed, to achieve that target for 1 July 2026. I thank the committee and I look forward to engaging with members.
