Sir, – This newspaper’s report that EU directives are not being referred to the relevant Oireachtas committee before being signed into law is disturbing, though regrettably far from surprising (“EU directives not being passed to special committee before being signed into law”, February 18th).
The bypassing of specialist committee examination removes one of the few opportunities for expert evidence, public submissions and informed debate to scrutinise lawmaking and strengthen democratic legitimacy. The skewering of this process is not administrative efficiency; it is the creation of a democratic deficit.
This pattern is visible elsewhere. The Arbitration (Amendment) Bill, designed to facilitate Ireland’s ratification of the Investment Court System under the EU-Canada trade agreement, is also being rushed through the Oireachtas after the Government waived pre-legislative scrutiny last year. Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence Thomas Byrne acknowledged in front of the Select Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on February 17th that such waivers are usually reserved for exceptional urgency, yet no compelling time constraint exists. Several EU member states have yet to ratify the agreement and Ireland is under no imminent deadline.
Civil society and human rights organisations have increasingly raised concerns about the narrowing of civil society engagement and civic space, particularly in the context of complex legislative and trade measures. Requests for engagement on matters of significant constitutional, economic and public-interest consequence have gone unanswered, even as major corporations enjoy sustained and prioritised access to Ministers and senior officials.
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Viewed alongside the curtailment of legislative scrutiny, this points to a policymaking environment in which public-interest considerations are progressively sidelined while the interests of multinational corporations are prioritised. In a parliamentary democracy, decision-making must be anchored in the public good and meaningful democratic participation – not in concentrated corporate power.
Democratic scrutiny is not an administrative obstacle to be managed or minimised. It is the means by which laws acquire legitimacy. If measures cannot withstand committee examination, expert evidence and open debate, the answer is not to curtail scrutiny but to reconsider the measures themselves. – Yours, etc,
EVIE CLARKE,
Co-ordinator of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights,
Dublin 2.
