Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

I draw a distinction between statutory instruments and Bills. The Office of the Attorney General is not opposed to statutory instruments being sent out for drafting. It has recommended a list of people who are appropriate for Departments to employ in that regard because there is much drafting to be done and the statutory instruments are regularly handled in this way by Departments.

It is very rare for Bills to be drafted outside the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. I asked my Department to check how many Bills were drafted outside that office over the five-year period since the beginning of 2000. There was not a great deal of checking to be done. Only two Government Bills, the Adventure Activities Standards Authority Bill 2000 and the Official Languages (Equality) Bill 2002, were drafted outside the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. While those Bills were drafted outside the Office of the Attorney General and that of the Parliamentary Counsel, both were drafted by a former official in the latter office. No Bills were drafted in private practice. It should be borne in mind that over the period mentioned, 226 Bills were enacted.

An outside firm with special expertise advises the Department of Finance on the regulation of financial services, which relate to the Bill referred to by Deputy Rabbitte. As part of that advice, the firm prepared a sample draft of the Central Bank and Financial Services Authority Bill 2003. That was a substantial Bill with a large number of heads. The sample draft was presented to Government not as a Bill but merely as heads or the scheme of the Bill. The Bill itself was drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.

The same situation pertained to the Unclaimed Life Assurance Policies Bill 2002, with an outside firm drafting the heads of the Bill for the Department in the form of a sample draft. The Bill itself was drafted by the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel.

These situations rarely arise. I have spoken on a number of occasions with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel, the Attorney General and the two previous Attorneys General. They are not in favour of Bills being drafted by outside parties, a view I support. Their position is that whenever drafting is attempted within Departments or by outside agencies, the quality of the drafting is not of much use to them and is not satisfactory. They end up doing the drafting themselves. I do not wish to be unfair or uncharitable to the outside agencies, but such drafting is not satisfactory.

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