Brian O'Shea (Waterford, Labour)

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 13, between lines 47 and 48, to insert the following:

"(4) Prior to exercising a function under this subsection (3), the Minister shall request the Board to furnish him or her with a draft submission relating to the matters referred to in subsection (3), and the Minister shall have regard to such draft submission, and shall, in the event that the Government decides to depart from such draft submission prepared by the Board, publish a statement giving details and reasons for any such departure from the Board's proposals.".

We covered this amendment extensively on Committee Stage and we had no meeting of minds on the matter. I have again tabled the amendment because I want a high level of transparency and accountability. The Minister's major criticism was that this would insert another layer of bureaucracy. As a point of departure I agree that bureaucracy should always be minimised when dealing with such areas. However, my amendment essentially gets to the kernel of my and the Labour Party's difficulty with the Bill. I still await solid reasons from the Minister as to why this was necessary. I would like the Minister to expand on how the board reacted to the changes proposed.

When we get to the stage of assessment of applications and publication of decision, section 44(3) states that following receipt of the results of each assessment, the Minister shall submit to the Government for its approval the assessments and the amounts. We suggest that as a penultimate step the assessments should be referred to the board to make an assessment. This is not proposed to tie the Minister's hands in any way. The only reason for this proposal is that if the Minister were to depart from what is recommended, as he or she would be free to do if the amendment were accepted, a full explanation would need to be given as to why that departure took place. This is an added safeguard, which admittedly adds to the administration. However, at times it is not wrong to increase administration.

There was no meeting of minds on Committee Stage and I would be amazed if there was a meeting of minds now. I expect I will be forced to put the amendment to a vote.

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