Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that it is not permissible to divulge the advice of the Attorney General. However, the section of the Bill dealing with definitions does not only make reference to the 2002 directive; it also refers to decisions of the European Parliament and Council in 2015. It is not that the Minister is dealing solely with the 2002 directive to which nothing has been added. The definitions in the Bill make reference to material from the European Parliament and Council in 2015. The amendment recognises the fact that we are now in 2019 and there is further regulation in this area. The Minister might not be able to give us the advice he received but we can seek our own advice on the matter. Is the Minister telling me that no other jurisdiction in the European Union has incorporated these guidelines in legislation or regulation? I doubt that no country has done so. Has the Minister examined the way in which the directive has been implemented in each jurisdiction? The difficulty is that the Minister stated that his legal advice indicates that, for example, the Irish Aviation Authority may not be installed as regulator, but we know that eight member states have their equivalent of the IAA as the competent authority and the world has not caved in.

They have been allowed to do so as sovereign states within the EU. The same argument applies in regard to the amendment. Can the Minister give us that assurance which nobody else has? I suspect that he cannot and we will have to examine it ourselves in order to find out. I would be very surprised if we do not find it because the Bill goes beyond dealing with the 2002 directive by making reference to 2015 decisions. We are asking that it take account of the 2018 guidelines.