Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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I concur with that. The issue of post-legislative scrutiny must be explored somewhat more. In recent weeks, we have seen that when legislation is introduced, regulations can arise from that which are the responsibility of the Minister. Sometimes these regulations bring in measures unforeseen in the debate on the legislation. It would be useful if we had a mechanism for scrutinising regulations prior to them being signed off on by a Minister. It would not be a terribly long or laborious process. This is not just from an Irish perspective but it might be beneficial across Europe and other countries. It might give people reassurance.

With all of this we are trying to reassure the public that while we are limiting certain aspects of liberty, we are doing it for the greater public good to ensure we protect people's lives and health, with all of us working together. There should be a sense of unity of purpose, not just politically but across the community and society at large. Sometimes that is inclined to break down, particularly if some of the regulations seem to fly in the face of what most ordinary people would call common sense. We have seen aspects of that in this jurisdiction and in others as well.

We need to examine the regulatory process, including how it is drawn up, to see if we can bring about more scrutiny. It is not to delay or in any way inhibit the power of a Minister but to simply be able to ensure that regulations make sense, that people can have buy-in and that we know all elected representatives can have a say. I come from a constituency in the north west, Sligo-Leitrim, which has very low numbers of Covid-19, and many people in my constituency feel aggrieved they cannot attend a football match, for example, while 40 of them could go to a bar to watch it on a screen, which is much more dangerous in many ways.

Common sense may not be as common as we thought, as we used to say, but we must bring sense to this. It would happen if regulations could be examined at a committee like this, before the Oireachtas or in any other parliament, to ensure proper scrutiny. This comes after legislation.