Vol. 140 No. 16
I move amendment No. 7:
In page 13, subsection (9), line 5, after "Minister" to insert "unless otherwise determined by the Houses of the Oireachtas".
The purpose of this amendment is that it would appear from the Bill that after a certain date the Minister would cease to have any responsibility and there should be some responsibility, especially to the Houses of the Oireachtas, if a question arose in relation to this matter.
The amendment proposed by the Senator is unnecessary as the subsection involved is purely technical to allow for the transfer of functions from the Minister to the new Authority should the Authority be established. The approval of the Oireachtas for such a transfer is totally disproportionate to the issues involved. In enacting the legislation the Oireachtas will approve of the principle of transferring the powers and it would seem unnecessary to go back to formally seek the same decision at a later stage.
I move amendment No. 8:
In page 14, line 45, after "business" to insert "and shall not act as an intermediary for the purposes of carrying on health insurance business".
The section states that "a person other than a registered undertaking shall not carry on health insurance business". I want to change this as proposed in the amendment. When there is competition — as we hope there will be — under the new regulations as in all insurance there will be intermediaries who will try to give people what they feel is the best quote or benefit available. Sometimes these people have no responsibility for what they sell to the public. The purpose of the amendment is that these intermediaries should not act in relation to health insurance.
I do not accept what the Senator is proposing, because we have a practice of brokers selling insurance on behalf of insurance companies. The impact of the Senator's amendment would be to outlaw such brokers. Many of us know such individuals who do a good job and I do not propose to regulate them out of existence.
I move amendment No. 9:
In page 17, subsection (1), line 16, after "donor" to insert "subject to the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas".
This section says that "The authority may accept gifts of money, land or other property upon such trusts or conditions ... as may be specified by the donor". I wish to amend this as proposed. There should be some control over the gifts that are made to such an authority and they should have the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas. We should be careful in this regard and no doubt should be left in anyone's mind about gifts of the nature prescribed in this section. I ask the Minister to accept this amendment.
This amendment is not necessary, given that subsection (2) of this section provides that the Authority shall not accept a gift if the trusts or conditions attached to it would be inconsistent with the functions given to the Authority under the Act. To make the acceptance of gifts by the Authority subject to the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas is an inappropriate use of Oireachtas time and disproportionate to the activities that would be monitored under the amendment. Every corporate body established under the Acts of the Oireachtas has as a normal part of its functions the power to accept gifts. There is no case in which the acceptance of such gifts is conditional upon a formal approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas. If that was to be the case for every corporate body we would do little else in these Houses.
We will shortly be dealing with an Ethics Bill in relation to our own affairs and we should be careful about the affairs of authorities such as this. For that reason I am pressing the amendment.
I move amendment No. 10:
In page 17, subsection (2), line 23, after "Minister" to insert "with the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas".
This amendment proposes that the approval of the Oireachtas be required for the appointment of the registrar.
The import of the Senator's amendment is to require the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas for the appointment of the registrar. Such an amendment does not seem necessary or appropriate. Few appointments require the formal approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas; the only two which spring to mind are the Ombudsman and the Comptroller and Auditor General. The position envisaged here is not of the same magnitude or importance and it would be inappropriate to require a formal approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas to the appointment or discharge.
The registrar of the Authority will not discharge functions directly on behalf of the Oireachtas; the functions exercised by the registrar will be on behalf of the Authority, which will be appointed by me. The registrar will be subject to the authority and under the control of the Authority, which in turn will be answerable to me. That is the correct line of control and monitoring.
I move amendment No. 11:
In page 20, subsection (2), line 35, after "Minister" to insert "or to the Comptroller and Auditor General".
We had some discussion today concerning transparency in relation to this Authority and Senator Quinn spoke about this. Transparency and accountability are important in an Authority of this nature. My amendment asks that the words "or to the Comptroller and Auditor General" be inserted after the word "Minister". This is where disclosure of information shall be made. It is important, in the accountability of the Authority, that this information should be made available to the Comptroller and Auditor General.
This section provides that members or staff of the Authority or anyone engaged as an adviser or consultant to the Authority must maintain the confidentiality of any information obtained by them in the course of their activities on behalf of the Authority. The only exclusion is made in subsection (2), which excludes from the confidentiality provisions information contained in a report by the Authority to the Minister.
I do not propose to accept Senator Doyle's amendment. The role of the Comptroller and Auditor General is explicitly stated in section 31 (2), which provides the Comptroller and Auditor General to report to me as Minister for Health on the annual accounts of the Authority and also provides for the Minister to lay such a report before the Houses of the Oireachtas.
I am sure it is due to my inexperience but the first part of the Schedule says that the Authority will be able "with the consent of the Minister, to acquire, hold and dispose of land or an interest in land or to acquire, hold, and dispose of any other property". Could the Authority start buying hospitals? I am not saying the Minister would envisage the Authority running hospitals, but could this situation eventually come about?
It is outside its statutory powers under this legislation. The Schedule contains the normal powers given to a corporate body to provide premises for it to function.
When is it proposed to sit again?
It is proposed to sit again at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, 29 June.
