John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

Section 1 is a commencement provision which allows the Minister to bring into force certain provisions in the Bill at the appropriate time, or else to bring the entire Act into force on the same day. It is a standard feature in Bills and facilitates the appropriate implementation of the legislation. Consultation is unnecessary so the amendment is unnecessary.

Amendment No. 8 proposes that any change to the definition of the department be subject to approval by relevant authorities. This provision will only have effect if there is any change to the current constitution of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland and would allow us to reflect the change in our legislation. The provision does not confer any power in this jurisdiction to effect such a change in Government departments in another jurisdiction and it would not, therefore, be appropriate for our legislation to require consultation on this matter.

Amendment No. 13 suggests that section 4 of the Bill be amended to provide that the SEM committee comprise such members as stand appointed to it from time to time by the relevant authorities. The Schedule to the Bill sets out how appointments to the SEM committee are to be made, with specific provision as to the statutory consultation required to be undertaken. This amendment is, therefore, unnecessary.

Amendment No. 18, proposed by Deputy Durkan, relates to section 5 of the Bill which provides for the drawing up and publication of working arrangements. These working arrangements will set out the procedures to be adopted by the commission for the making of decisions with regard to SEM matters. They will also describe how the commission will work together with the Northern Ireland regulatory authority in the exercise of their respective functions relating to the single electricity market. Deputy Durkan's amendment proposes that relevant parties be consulted prior to any amendment being made to these working arrangements which will be adopted by the SEM. The Bill provides that any decision as to the exercise of the relevant functions of the commission relating to an SEM matter shall be taken on behalf of the commission by the SEM committee. Due to the independent nature of the SEM committee it is therefore not appropriate to require it to consult beyond the current provisions of this Bill. Therefore, the amendment cannot be accepted.

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