Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

——or at least delineates what might be better referred to as factors or principles that are applicable to the terms and conditions so that this House exercises some degree of control.

In fairness to the Minister, Deputy Brian Lenihan, he is a fairly rounded and sane individual. If, for example, this legislation must be extended and there is another Minister for Finance who loses his marbles in two or three years' time or is scarified by the board of directors of a bank, I do not know what insane conditions might be laid down. This House is entitled to have some control over that. The amendment tabled by Deputy Burton has given us the opportunity to raise this issue.

I do not think it is correct that we should say the Act should not come into force until the particular scheme is laid before the House. I would have a different view. If this House had the time to do it, there should be a new section put into this Bill which prescribes the factors and principles applicable to the terms and conditions. As a minimum, instead of there being what I describe as the negative procedure applicable to statutory instruments where one is made and is law unless it is annulled, we should have the positive prescriptive provision which is in section 5, which only allows for a statutory instrument, or, in this instance, a scheme, to come into operation when approved by the House. At least then this House, as the Parliament of this State, would exercise some democratic input into it.

Indeed, I would go so far as to suggest that the legislation should include a provision whereby if the scheme, as laid, is not appropriate or is defective, instead of it simply being accepted or rejected, there should be a methodology to allow its amendment.

This is a particularly serious issue and I have some specific questions for the Minister about it. What is the advice of the Attorney General? There is a plethora of case law about the extent to which this House can delegate functions to outside agencies or, indeed, to Ministers which essentially allow Ministers to legislate as opposed to simply make regulations or administrative procedures. I will not delay the House, Sir, by going through all of it, but there are two or three principles which are particularly relevant.

There is a well-known judgment delivered by the Supreme Court in a case called Laurentiu v. the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. In that case the issue arose regarding the extent to which the Oireachtas could delegate its law-making powers to a Minister or to other subordinate agencies.

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