Each of the sub-committees will have nine members, including the Chairman. I invite nominations to the Select Sub-Committee on Finance.
Nomination of Members of Select Sub-Committees
I nominate Deputies Liam Twomey, Kieran O'Donnell, Jim Daly and Billy Timmins.
I stand as a Labour Party member of the sub-committee. There should be a second nominee from the Labour Party.
Deputy Tommy Broughan.
Deputy Michael McGrath.
Deputy Pearse Doherty.
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett.
Is the nomination of those members agreed to? Agreed. Deputies Boyd Barrett, Broughan, Daly, Doherty, McGrath, O'Donnell, Timmins, Twomey and White are duly appointed to the Select Sub-Committee on Finance.
I now turn to the Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform which will have nine members, including the Chairman.
I nominate Deputies Olivia Mitchell, Peter Mathews, Michael Creed and Heather Humphreys.
I stand appointed to the sub-committee.
Deputy Arthur Spring.
Deputy Sean Fleming.
Deputy Mary Lou McDonald.
I am the nominee of the Technical Group.
Is the nomination of these members agreed to? Agreed. Deputies Creed, Donnelly, Fleming, Heather Humphreys, McDonald, Mathews, Mitchell, Spring and White are duly appointed to the Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform.
The final sub-committee is the Select Sub-Committee on the Department of the Taoiseach, which will have nine members, including the Chairman.
I nominate Deputies Liam Twomey, Olivia Mitchell, Jim Daly and Heather Humphreys.
I also stand appointed to the sub-committee. Are there another nominees?
Deputy Kevin Humphreys.
Deputy Seán Fleming.
Deputy Jonathan O'Brien.
A Deputy
Deputy Joe Higgins.
Is the appointment of the members of the Select Sub-Committee on the Department of the Taoiseach agreed to? Agreed. Accordingly, Deputies Daly, Fleming, Joe Higgins, Heather Humphreys, Kevin Humphreys, Mitchell, O'Brien, Twomey and White are duly appointed to the select sub-committee.
To be absolutely clear, each of the 21 members has the right to attend and speak at each of the sub-committees. They may not move a motion or vote; otherwise they have the right to participate fully. Is that the case?
I confirm that is the case.
May I seek clarification? Is the same right available to every Member of the Dáil? Is any other Member of the Dáil excluded?
I do not think a distinction can be drawn between the rights of other members of the select committee and Members of the Dáil who are not members of the select committee.
Therefore, it applies to every Member of the Dáil.
Yes, that is correct. It is in accordance with convention and practice.
Does the Chairman envisage the full committee meeting often? What topics will we meet to discuss?
Frankly, I do not envisage this committee meeting at all, rather the select sub-committees will meet to deal with the business referred to them. This is the select committee and while it would not be accurate to say it is now defunct, whatever way one wants to describe it, it will not be meeting again. It will not have any tasks to conduct, unless the Dáil, of which it is a creature, determines it should meet to consider some business to be referred to it. Hereafter, it will be the select sub-committees which will have business to attend to, referred to them by the Dáil.
Can members who do not have voting rights on a sub-committee still be supplied with whatever papers are sent to that sub-committee in order that they can stay up to date? Would it be possible to do this?
I understand where the Deputy is coming from. To revert to the point we have just discussed, as a matter of course, the select committee will not receive all of the documentation presented. It will be for whatever select sub-committee a member is on. However, I know what the Deputy is driving at and I will certainly consider the matter. I will discuss it with the clerk. We will look favourably upon the Deputy's request, but I am not sure exactly how it would work out in practice.
If a particular generic financial or banking issue arises, which sub-committee will a witness appear before?
The Joint Committee on Finance and Public Expenditure. From now on essentially there will be four bodies: the three select sub-committees which have just been formed and the joint committee of 27 members which we hope will meet frequently to deal with the business the Deputy mentioned.
Is the joint committee meeting at 4.30 p.m.?
The Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform is meeting at that time to deal with the Estimates.
As regards the discussions we had at previous meetings on people coming to be questioned, will that happen before the joint committee?
Absolutely. I need to correct the record on one matter. Owing to a slip of the pen, we gave the wrong result of the vote. It should have been Tá, 9; Níl, 12. I apologise to members.
I wondered who the 22nd person was.
It was a slip of the pen.
What is the quorum at the select sub-committees?
Three in each case, including the Chairman.
The select committee adjourned at 2.35 p.m. sine die.