Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise an issue prior to debating section 9. Later we will reach amendments that we discussed yesterday but were ruled out of order by the Clerk to the Committee. I accept that the clerk's rulings are based on established practice. As the committee knows, there is a constitutional prohibition on the Opposition putting forward amendments that incur a cost on the people or the Exchequer. We also have Standing Orders in the Houses of the Oireachtas that interpret the constitutional provision. The people who decide whether an amendment is in order must look at the Standing Orders and established practice. Yesterday Deputy Donnelly and I mentioned that the proposals that come before this committee are not law. They are only proposals from Government and we are shaping them. The amendments have been treated as if they are a charge on the people or the Exchequer. It is my understanding, from talking to the clerk that the established practice, over a number of decades, is they look at the Government Bill as law. There is nothing in the Standing Orders and Constitution that says this should happen. I ask the committee to refer this matter to the committee on Dáil reform and to ask it to consider the application of established practices, which the clerk is bound to follow, in terms of dealing with financial motions that we table in the future.