Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leader for having Minister of State Deputy Brian Hayes in the House last week to deal with the issue of illegal washing of diesel. There was a very good debate and it included the Louth Senators. Senators D'Arcy, Brennan and Moran participated. At the end of the debate, the Minister of State said the new dye was really the last attempt as part of the new procedures to address the illegality. In the meantime, we have had the invasion of the Frank Aiken Army barracks in Dundalk and the hijacking of a vehicle. It is now time for the Minister of State to find an alternative way of subsidising agriculture, as he was hinting last week. The events to which I refer involve criminality of such a high level that it places the security of the State and Army barracks at risk. It is unacceptable that it should continue.

Let me refer to the proposal attributed to the Taoiseach in today's newspaper that the Seanad is to be replaced by "a high-powered Dáil committee", "a mini-Seanad with outside experts", and a "legislative committee". This has been suggested to him by a "well-known public servant". The idea is being kicked around. We are to put a new structure in place to effectively replace the Seanad. The structure is to be modelled on the fiscal council. In March, we proposed in this House an amendment to the Finance Act so the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council might advise us. In reply, the Minister said:

As for the suggestion that the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council would carry out an assessment of the tax credit, such an assessment would significantly expand the mandate of the fiscal council. It would require a much larger resource in terms of both staff and budgetary allocation. It would be likely to impede the fulfilment of its core functions. I am reluctant to move in that direction also.

Therefore, a body that was unfit to advise it two months ago will now take over the functions of the Seanad. We need to impress on the Government the work we do here. The experts are in this House and they are elected. The fact that debates are ignored in the media does not mean they are not important. Much of the article would not have been written if the debate on the Finance Act had been listened to by anyone in the media. We are performing our task, regardless of whether the media like it. However, the Taoiseach should be aware of the very important decision made by the Supreme Court on 9 May in which it stated: "There can be little doubt therefore that Part III of the 1946 [Industrial Relations] Act raises serious issues ... What appears to be law is being made by persons other than the Oireachtas". No new committee proposed by the Taoiseach can usurp the functions of the Oireachtas.