A BILL designed to “put beyond doubt” the power of Dáil and Seanad committees to conduct public inquiries, will be introduced in the Dáil tomorrow by the Labour Party.
The Committee of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Powers of Inquiry) Bill 2010 will be debated during Private Member’s time, when the Opposition can raise issues of concern in a three hour debate over two nights.
The legislation is being introduced in the wake of the controversy about the banking inquiry and whether it would deliberate in public or private session.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore said “it was most regrettable that the Government last month rejected the Labour Party proposal for an Oireachtas Dirt-style inquiry into the banking crisis, and opted instead for a behind closed-doors limited investigation. But it is nevertheless important that the power of a committee to conduct such an inquiry is put beyond doubt.”
He added: “The capacity to conduct inquiries into matters of public concern is a normal part of the range of powers available to parliaments. But the ability of Oireachtas Committees to do so has been in doubt since the 2002 decision of the Supreme Court in the Abbeylara case.”
The issue was raised in the Dáil last week. Public Accounts Committee chairman Bernard Allen said the Abbeylara judgment had a “profound and serious effect” on the committee, which as a result was “seriously handicapped” in deliberating on the performance of Government departments.
Mr Allen cited the 2009 report on the State agency Fás and said that “we could not say what we really wanted to say because of the constraints placed on our committee by the Abbeylara judgment”.
The committee was seeking greater powers and the only way to do so was through a referendum, he believed. “If we are serious about avoiding tribunals in future and giving real voice to Oireachtas committees, we must have a referendum to deal with the serious Supreme Court decision on Abbeylara.”
