Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

One can argue either way in regard to this matter which was discussed when the Bill was being prepared. I am not making a political point when I suggest that if Deputy Broughan were Minister and I were in opposition, he would make the argument I am making and vice versa. Having consulted a number of interests, including the Office of the Attorney General, and examined the submissions made in this respect, we have decided to proceed in this manner. The default position, as it may be called, in the proposed new section 38C is that all proceedings under Part 2A are to be held in private. The legal advice we have received is that we should provide for such proceedings to be held in public if a person who is required to attend a ComReg hearing makes a request to that effect. This provision will protect the right of a person, enshrined in Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, to have a hearing held in public if he or she wants it to be.

I do not imagine that there will be many requests for hearings to be held in public. ComReg will arrange a hearing if it decides that a company may have a case to answer in respect of anti-competitive practices, for example. The default position is that a hearing will be held in private unless an individual wants it to be held in public. I do not think many individuals and companies will want to have their dirty linen washed in public. I remind the House that we are talking about the information gathering stage. If the process goes further than this, there will be a public hearing that will lead to a finding of fact by the commission. Having this part of the process in private will enable a speedier investigation, in many respects. I return to what I said about whistleblowers — the private nature of the initial hearings may make it easier for people to come forward to provide evidence which might back up the commission's other suspicions, evidence or information. We have framed it the right way in the Bill. If an individual wants to go public in these circumstances, he or she will have the option of doing so. We have struck the right balance in the legislation as it stands.

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