Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 5:

In page 12, to delete lines 35 to 38, and in page 13, to delete lines 1 and 2 and substitute the following:“(2) Every regulation made under a provision of this Act, other than under sections 48, 57 and 70 shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made.

(3) Either House of the Oireachtas may, by a resolution passed within 21 sitting days after the day on which a regulation is laid before it under subsection (2), annul the regulation.

(4) The annulment of a regulation under subsection (3) takes effect immediately on the passing of the resolution concerned, but does not affect the validity of anything done under the regulation before the passing of the resolution.

(5) A regulation may be made under section 48, section 57, and section 70 only if—

(a) a draft of the proposed regulation has been laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas, and

(b) a resolution approving the draft has been passed by each House.”.

This amendment is fairly self-explanatory. It is designed to provide checks and balances, and an extra layer of protection for any future legislation or regulations introduced by a Minister. The Bill, like most Bills, gives the Minister considerable power to introduce future regulations. It is hard not to be concerned about what this Government or another Government might introduce via statutory instrument given recent attitudes to data rights, which have not been great. We feel that introducing these protective measures is common sense.