Seán Ardagh (Dublin South Central, Fianna Fail)

I wish to refer to a couple of items raised by Deputy Costello, including the question of e-consultation. I agree this is a matter that should be developed. In this regard I commend the Chief Whip, the Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach, Deputy Tom Kitt, for pioneering the e-consultation process in the Broadcasting Bill, with the co-operation of the then Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Noel Dempsey, and the good work of Deputy Noel O'Flynn, committee chairman, and his staff. The Chief Whip, Deputy Tom Kitt, has set out a commitment to further promote e-consultation with a view to improving the transparency of the workings of this Parliament, giving greater access to all people, in particular, students and teachers, and widening it as an educational tool so that people are more educated in our workings.

Deputy Costello said everyone should be members of committees, but it would be totally unwieldy to have 165 people going to a committee room to vote on each amendment to a Bill. Having said that, every Member is entitled to attend committee meetings and to contribute at those meetings in whatever way they wish to do so. Certainly in the justice committee, Members of the Dáil who were not members of the committee regularly attended and contributed in a positive way to the proceedings of the committee. I understand also that Deputy Seán Barrett mentioned that the heads of Bills are not discussed at committees. Deputy Barrett was away from the House for a few years and certainly in the last Dáil the heads of a number of Bills, including the Criminal Justice Bill and the Garda Síochána Bill, were given to all members of the justice committee for discussion before the Bill was published. The heads were given on the basis that the committee would contribute and suggest amendments, even at that stage, before the Bill was published.

Why is there a need for committees? Committees are very effective and allow us to carry on the legislative work we have been elected to do. More often than not in the Dáil, the debate is between Ministers and the Front Bench spokespersons of the various parties. Certainly at committees every member is allowed, entitled and enabled to contribute positively to the legislation that is going through the Houses of the Oireachtas. It also provides opportunities for Members to get stuck into the job of legislation and reports related to the committee of which they are members. It also allows backbench Members to shine in particular areas whereas that opportunity is not provided in the Houses.

I was very honoured to be appointed by the Taoiseach to the Committee of Public Accounts when I became a Member in 1997 and as chairman of the justice committee in 2000. Not everybody got that opportunity but certainly it made a difference in the way I was able to work in the Dáil and get things done and in the way my electorate perceived me as a legislator and a positive influence in developing the laws of the country.

In the Committee of Public Accounts people were brought to account in terms of the DIRT inquiry whereas they cannot be brought to account here. The Chief Whip, Deputy Tom Kitt, referred to the great work done by the late Jim Mitchell as chairman. I was fortunate to have been a member of the DIRT inquiry. It was memorable to see on television, bankers brought to book publicly and made answerable for what had happened in their institutions. The Chief Whip also mentioned the new method of looking at Estimates and output statements. This was developed at the Committee of Public Accounts by its members.

One of the big items that must be addressed again is a public inquiry into matters of great public interest. Unfortunately, as a result of the Abbeylara inquiry in the Twenty-eighth Dáil, a difficulty has arisen in relation to the limitations that have been put on Members by the Constitution and the courts. Since then, certainly in the justice committee, there have been a number of inquiries and hearings: the Barron inquiries into the Dublin-Monaghan bombings, the Dublin bombings, the murder of Seamus Ludlow and the bombings in Kay's Tavern in Dundalk. These were four separate inquiries. The first day of the hearings on the Dublin and Monaghan bombings when the victims came and told their stories was one of the most telling days ever in Leinster House. That happened through the committee system. It was very worthwhile not only for the country, but particularly for the people who were affected.

The committee covering the justice brief met 317 times in the lifetime of the last Dáil and completed a considerable amount of business. One issue it addressed, as do other committees, was EU scrutiny. One of the strands that wove its way through the justice, home affairs and criminal justice discussions was the question of civil law versus common law. We have recently had questions during Leaders' Questions and at Question Time on opting in or out of certain justice and home affairs issues. This matter can and should be discussed at committee. It is done best in that setting as it gets the total attention of all the members of the committee.

The Garda Commissioner, who was unseen around Leinster House for many years, has become very amenable to the justice committee. The Garda Síochána Bill was improved dramatically following discussions at the committee. The Garda Commissioner now appears regularly before the committee.

The issue of international crime is continually to the forefront, particularly regarding drugs. The issue of the international arrest warrant and of evidence being gathered in one country and used in another——

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