Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 1042 proposes to subject commission fees to full Oireachtas approval. Reviews of such fees are already evidentially based and subject to ministerial sign-off and approval. Therefore I consider this amendment disproportionate in its aim and unnecessary. Section 348 provides that "The Commission may determine fees that may be charged, subject to the approval of the Minister, in relation to" various aspects. We take the view that it is up to the Government Minister. The commission can bring forward its wish to determine a charge but it must get the approval of the Minister. We have a different view from the Deputies' amendment and that fundamentally this is a decision for the Government and not for an Oireachtas joint committee. It is fundamentally a different view.