Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I oppose this section. Does the Minister of State not feel that the legislation already gives him enough powers, without necessarily needing the power to change aspects of the legislation by way of regulation? I am always very nervous of this. I understand that subsection (3) provides for those regulations to be laid before the House, but it does not reduce the fact that section 5 offers fairly significant powers to what is already extremely technical, important and geopolitically serious legislation.

Every Minister will say that this is a standard provision. I imagine the Minister of State will be no different. However, this is incredibly serious legislation. While I completely understand the Minister of State will tell me he will only use it sparingly, it may not always be him in that role. I have been given a personal commitment by many Ministers and while I accept their bona fides on that, they do not necessarily always have control over who sits in the chair. This is serious legislation. It will materially impact on how FDI operates. It requires the utmost in transparency. That is why we oppose section 5.