Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are a number of provisions for ministerial directions in the Bill, including those at sections 19, 27, 34, 35, 41, 42 and 47 and those at paragraphs 17 and 18 of Schedule 4. Section 19 provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform may, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, give directions to the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, acting as NewERA, in the performance of its functions. The Minister is required to consult other relevant Ministers before issuing such a direction, which must be published. The only requirement in the Bill is that a direction be published. Ministerial orders must be published but directions are, in most cases, more in the nature of practical instructions on a particular aspect of the agency's business.

We do not believe it should be a statutory requirement that all such directions be published. There is nothing secret about directions. There will be records and they will be subject to freedom of information, FOI, legislation, which will allow the protections built into the FOI legislation to apply, where appropriate.

In addition, there is a practical issue around the Deputy’s proposal that directions be annulled. If that were the case, the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, could not take any action under a direction until the 21 day period had elapsed and it was sure the direction would not be annulled. This would cause difficulties which can be illustrated if we consider the way the NPRF's directed investments are managed. It would not be practical to operate in this manner and therefore we do not propose to accept the Deputy's amendment.