Finance Committee to seek submissions on Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2012

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin TD has forwarded the Draft Heads of the General Scheme to the Joint Committee seeking any observations the Members may have.

The Bill will provide for the Oireachtas to undertake inquiries (outside their normal day-to-day functions) under five principal categories:

• “Inquire Record and Report” style inquiries whose major function would be simply to record and report evidence and making findings of uncontested facts in particular with a view to establishing a factual narrative of particular events;
• “Forward-looking” inquiries which would be empowered to make findings of fact in the context of investigations relating to the legislative functions of the House(s);
• Inquiries relating to the removal of certain office holders as provided for in Article 12.10 (President), Article 33.5 C&AG) or Article 35 (Judges of Supreme and High Court) of the Constitution, or arising from legislation relating to the removal of other judges;
• Inquiries in relation to the conduct of a Member of the House(s);
• Inquiries and make findings of fact for the purpose of holding the current Government to account under Article 28.4 of the Constitution.

To allow for greater input for stakeholders, the Finance Committee has decided to invite written submissions from interested groups and individuals in relation to proposals for possible inclusion or exclusion to this Bill.

Ciarán Lynch, TD, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, said: “The proposed legislation sets out that responsibility is assigned exclusively to the Houses of the Oireachtas to determine the requirement for a formal inquiry, the terms of reference of that inquiry and the procedural and organisational aspects of the inquiry. The Committee has decided to invite submissions on this Bill in advance of its publication. This is an opportunity to allow members of the Committee to be fully informed and enable it to provide meaningful input into the legislation, make observations and suggestions before the Bill comes before the Dáil and Seanad. The submissions we receive, along with the Committee’s observations, will be forwarded to Minister Howlin. We welcome the content of the Bill and look forward to engaging with the Minister and the Department in this pre-legislative scrutiny and working with him in order to ensure the Bill is published before the year-end.”

The closing date for receipt of submissions is Friday, 30 November 2012 at 5 pm.

Read the Heads of the Bill here: http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Houses-of-the-Oireachtas-Bill-Heads.pdf

Explanatory Memorandum: http://per.gov.ie/wp-content/uploads/Explan-Memo-Oireachtas-Inquiries.pdf

Read the Minister’s letter to the Committee here: http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/media/committees/finance/378a-Letter-011112-Min-PER-re-1481_001.pdf

Details about making a submission: http://www.oireachtas.ie/parliament/oireachtasbusiness/committees_list/fper-committee/submissions/

For further information please contact:

Ciaran Brennan,
Houses of the Oireachtas,
Communications Unit,
Leinster House,
Dublin 2

P: +3531 618 3903
M: 086-0496518
F: +3531 618 4551

Committee Membership

Deputies

Richard Boyd-Barrett, People Before Profit
Michael Creed, Fine Gael
Jim Daly, Fine Gael
Pearse Doherty, Sinn Fein
Stephen Donnelly, Independent
Sean Fleming, Fianna Fáil
Joe Higgins, Socialist Party
Heather Humphreys, Fine Gael
Kevin Humphreys, Labour Party
Peter Mathews, Fine Gael
Mary Lou McDonald, Sinn Fein
Ciarán Lynch, Labour Party (Chairman)
Michael McGrath, Fianna Fáil
Michael McNamara, Labour Party
Dara Murphy, Fine Gael
Timmy Dooley, Fianna Fáil
Kieran O’Donnell, Fine Gael
Arthur Spring, Labour Party
Brian Stanley, Sinn Féin
Billy Timmins, Fine Gael
Liam Twomey, Fine Gael

Senators

Sean D Barrett
Thomas Byrne
Paul Coghlan
Michael D’Arcy
Aideen Hayden
Tom Sheahan