Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Just before the committee goes into private session, I want to put on the public record my deeply held conviction that the Oireachtas, and the two Houses of the Oireachtas, are not fulfilling their function in relation to subsidiarity issues or examinations. I also want to put on the public record my view that the sectoral committees, the formation of which at the moment is now delayed, are not performing that function adequately and have never really, in all of my experience, carried out that function. I have spoken to the Cathaoirleach of the Seanad and I believe that the Seanad should make efforts to carry out this function seriously by itself alongside the procedures which were established under the last Seanad to vet statutory instruments in draft form before they are implemented. I wanted to put that on the record before we go into private session.