Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The powers the Minister is seeking in the legislation represent a quantum leap. Many people's nightmare that Europe would dictate to Ireland what should be done will become a reality. While many positive initiatives have emanated from Europe, we should have a policy of critical engagement with the Union. We should consider whether to support or oppose each new initiative on the basis of merit and criteria relating to its effectiveness, human rights compliance and whether it is good or bad for the people. The legislation will take powers away from the Dáil and its committees and put them in the hands of a Minister. One person who was asked for a legal opinion on this described it as an attempted coup by the executive arm of the State against the legislative arm, which is the Oireachtas. The difficulty about these powers, some of which are retrospective, is that we do not know what we are agreeing to or what legislation is covered.

My colleague, Deputy Ó Snodaigh, tabled a number of parliamentary questions to various Departments about this legislation and most Departments are in the dark. We are being asked to agree to the Minister deciding what regulations should be implemented without referring to anybody. That is absolute madness and it is a dictatorial approach to this process. To hand power exclusively to a Minister and his or her officials is anti-democratic and that view has been expressed by many Opposition Members throughout this debate. It is crazy that, as long as the Minister claims it is necessary, European laws could be implemented without seeking the permission or acknowledgement of Deputies and Senators or even having to notify them. I do not know how a Parliament could argue this is positive and democratic.

A former President of Germany, Roman Herzog recently asked whether Germany could be called a parliamentary democracy because the EU drafts 80% of its laws. That is our current position without the enactment of this legislation. In 2006 the Sub-Committee on European Scrutiny processed 329 legislative proposals, which amounted to 90% of legislation dealt with by the Oireachtas. We are relying on the goodwill of the Minister and his officials to inform us whether it is good or bad. What is being proposed here is wrong. The nightmare will become a reality and many of us have spoken about the centralised Europe which seems to be developing. We have argued against the direction Europe has taken in recent years and the undermining of countries' sovereignty. We have asked whether we are moving towards a European super state. The legislation certainly appears to be moving us in that direction and fewer powers are being given to sovereign parliaments. Our arguments were rubbished by many people, who said we were anti-European, but this type of legislation is the nightmare becoming reality.

My party will oppose the Bill at all stages. We are being asked to agree to smoke and mirrors because we do not know what is coming down the track or what we will agree to retrospectively. I do not see how anyone in his or her right mind could agree to these proposals if he or she genuinely believes in democracy or giving people the opportunity to scrutinise legislation. This Bill will undermine whatever powers of scrutiny are currently possessed by these Houses and it represents the wrong way forward. We are giving too much power to Ministers and it is anti-democratic, if not dictatorial. I support the amendment but oppose the Bill.

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