Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following:

"Dáil Éireann declines to give the Bill a second reading on the following grounds:

(a) 50 years after foundation of European Economic Community, the process of closer European co-operation is becalmed by reason of citizens' perception across Europe of a lack of democracy in the operation of the EU;

(b) Such concerns as to the lack of democratic scrutiny were critical in the defeat of the first Nice Treaty referendum and in the response to that result, including in the establishment of the National Forum on Europe;

(c) The present law, under the European Communities Act 1972, requires approval by the Oireachtas in the form of primary legislation of all proposals to create indictable offences to implement European law;

(d) The Bill would bring about a major transfer of power from the Oireachtas to Ministers by allowing Ministers to create indictable offences by regulations, rather than through the introduction of legislation;

(e) As directives are binding only as to the result to be achieved, and leave to the national authorities the choice of form and methods (under Article 249 of the EC Treaty), the implementation of a directive is not an automatic or rubber-stamp exercise and involves important policy choices as to form and methods, and it is in the interests of democracy that such important choices should, in serious matters, be made directly by the Oireachtas and not by Ministers through the medium of regulations;

(f) The Bill would, if implemented, allow such policy choices as to form and methods to be exercised by Ministers, instead of by the Oireachtas as at present, in cases where it is proposed to create indictable offences;

(g) Oireachtas scrutiny after the event is not an adequate substitute for the power to make the decision in the first instance, which is the power currently held by the Oireachtas in cases where it is proposed to create indictable offences;

(h) The Bill is therefore a significant dilution of democracy at a time when concerns as to lack of democracy have shaken citizens' confidence in the EU;

(i) The Bill is primarily motivated by a short-term view of administrative convenience; the State is not obliged to introduce the Bill by EU law and is free to withdraw the Bill without infringing EU law.''.

Not only is the Labour Party opposed to the Bill, we are opposed to it being debated at all in what it seeks to do. There are other ways to deal with the matter, which I will speak of later.

We are not the only group with this view. The Labour leader, Deputy Rabbitte, received a letter from the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers' Association on the matter, although I am sure very few organisations in the marketplace know what is going on today in the House. The ICMSA President, Jackie Cahill, wrote the letter, which states:

The European Communities Bill currently before the Dáil proposing to amend the European Communities Act 1972 is a very important piece of draft legislation. The ICMSA is concerned that the Bill would, if adopted, give Ministers power to introduce legislation by statutory instrument, impose fines of up to €500,000 and create indictable offences. Furthermore, as you know, arising from case law, the current Act empowers a Minister to change existing law, including Acts of the Oireachtas.

In view of the growing importance of EU law in virtually every aspect of business, economic and social affairs, we are very concerned about this definite erosion of the authority of the Oireachtas and as a result, democratic accountability for law-making.

The 1972 Act never intended this to be the case and Dáil Éireann at that time specifically and rightly, in our view, put a ceiling on the penalties. Based on the above, we believe that the Bill, as passed by Seanad Éireann, should not be enacted and that the Oireachtas alone should retain the exclusive role of creating indictable offences.

In addition, legislation imposing severe penalties on individuals should only be enacted after full scrutiny by elected representatives. Otherwise individuals in their business and personal life could be exposed to unnecessary restriction and unwarranted bureaucracy.

That is at the heart of the problem. The ICMSA, a farming organisation, by chance became aware of the provisions of the Bill proposed today and it put forward such robust opposition to it.

Many other organisations, including those involved in environmental, marine and farming matters, across the length and breadth of the country will be affected by directives coming from the European Union. They will also be affected by regulations and statutory instruments put forward by Ministers, at their own discretion, without debate in this House. Penalties will be imposed of up to three years imprisonment, depriving the liberty of a citizen without having to go through to the House. A statutory instrument can be concocted in some committee room, by some civil servant or by a Minister before being presented to the Oireachtas Library, bypassing the Oireachtas. It would be a done deal, a fait accompli.

See this speech in context