Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Flanagan is talking more broadly about the issue of how we address regulation. The provision in subsection 16(3) is the standard one used for all legislation. It states:

Every regulation under this section shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it has been made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.

Deputy Flanagan claims that regulations are being used more and more. In fact, they are not. As a result of a number of court decisions, more and more Ministers err on the side of caution by introducing primary rather than secondary legislation. I can think of a case in point. Legislation relating to the retention of data will, I hope, soon be published. Originally, it was felt that would be done by regulation and that we had the power to do so. On the advice of the Attorney General, it was felt that we should introduce primary legislation. My experience in the past number of years is the opposite of what Deputy Flanagan says. Ministers are not using secondary legislation more and more. On marine matters, of which I have experience, for decades Governments of every colour used regulations at quick remove.

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