Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 3, to delete lines 16 to 33 and in page 4, to delete lines 1 and 2.

I welcome the Minister of State belatedly to the Dáil to take legislation which is before us again for a short time. My objection to this legislation has been stated on Committee Stage and on Second Stage. The principle of this legislation is all wrong. It is giving full power to the Minister to operate as he or she sees fit in terms of European directives, resolutions and legislation and all European proposals may be transposed by the Minister as he sees fit, in his own image and likeness, so to speak. This is an extraordinary power we are granting to the Minister, both retrospectively in the case of matters that have already been dealt with and in the future. The Minister is almost like an alchemist of old who can turn whatever he wishes into a precious substance and guild it as he sees fit. Not only will he transpose it into legislation, but he can amend it. He can amend the legislation, providing for up to three years imprisonment for any citizen of this jurisdiction or up to €500,000 in fines. Those are extraordinary powers the Minister is taking unto himself in this legislation.

What he is giving us is a crumb. He is prepared to put the European legislation on the floor of the House for 21 days, but he is not prepared to do so in the normal fashion in which it would be debated, teased out and legislated for, which is our business as legislators. In that sense it is contrary to everything we stand for. I am wholly opposed to granting these extensive powers. This extends not merely to summary jurisdiction, but to indictable offences which involve the Minister taking much greater powers unto himself.

As well as opposing the principle of this legislation, I am also opposed to the message it sends out. I am sure the Minister of State was present last Sunday for the Berlin declaration, stating the benefits the European Union had granted over the past 50 years and the wonderful benefits which would be granted in the future, but there were quite a few elephants in that room. There was no mention of the constitutional treaty or of enlargement, in other words, the issues that concern citizens and that caused the citizens of the Netherlands and France to vote against the constitutional treaty because they were fearful and suspicious of the lack of accountability in the European Union.

If we are embarking on another 50 years in the European Union we must ensure we do so with the right principles, and one of the basic principles is that of transparency and accountability. This legislation avoids all of that. That is a bad start for us.

We set up the National Forum on Europe so citizens could have a sense of involvement and engagement and we set up the scrutiny legislation — both emanated from the Labour Party — so the Oireachtas would have a scrutiny process, but now we are in a process of legislation which takes away a raft of such measures and passes them to the Minister, who can then determine how the legislation from Europe will be implemented. That is not good enough. It sends out entirely the wrong message.

No doubt this legislation will be quoted the length and breadth of this country when we are putting through the next referendum on Europe. When a referendum, whether on the constitutional treaty or another treaty, is put to the people, no doubt those eurosceptics who do not want Ireland in the European Union will point to this Bill and state the Government in 2007 in the Dáil took power away from the people and elected representatives and handed it to the Minister. That, in itself, raises a serious question of European Union accountability.

My amendment relates in general terms to that issue. I ask the Minister of State to reconsider his position and give us something more than the crumb he is allowing to be placed on the table such as that statutory instruments be presented on the floor of this House rather than laid in the Library for 21 days and that he give at least a positive presentation on any proposals he is putting forward.

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