Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

As this Bill addresses matters related to Ireland's representation in the European Parliament, I will begin by sincerely congratulating the 15 MEPs elected to represent Ireland North and South at the recent election, including Pat the Cope Gallagher, until recently a Deputy in this House. I also extend my sympathy to the unsuccessful candidates and compliment all candidates, successful or otherwise, on the extensive campaigns undertaken by them in seeking election to represent Ireland in the European Parliament. It is only through the willingness of candidates of all political persuasions to put themselves forward for election by the people that a true democratic mandate is provided for elected representatives at local, national and European level.

I also express satisfaction that 11 out of the 12 MEPs elected in this jurisdiction belong to mainstream groups in the European Parliament - the Christian democrat, liberal and socialist groups - and are committed to supporting the ratification of the Lisbon treaty, now augmented by the decision of the European Council containing the legal guarantees and assurances plus declarations which the Irish Government had been seeking. They should put to rest genuine fears about the impact of the Lisbon treaty on Ireland. With regard to the group that my party will now be joining, I look forward to the development of a liberal republican philosophy.

The introduction of this short Bill which was passed by the Seanad without amendment on 16 June reflects a further step in the development of the European Parliament, which is, along with the Council and the Commission, among the key institutions of the European Union. With its members directly elected every five years throughout the 27 member states of the European Union, it is a unique institution: a multinational, multilingual Parliament of 785 members and 23 languages.

The principal function of the European Parliament is to provide for and support the democratic accountability of EU decisions to ensure the right decisions are taken in respect of the European Union as a whole and in respect of specific national and regional concerns. The role of the European Parliament does not usurp the role of national parliaments but is complementary to it. This complementary role has evolved steadily since the first direct elections in 1979 when it was still essentially a consultative body. It now has a range of real powers which enhance the democratic accountability of the European Union.

The Parliament's role with regard to legislation and budgetary matters is particularly important. The European Parliament shares European legislative powers with the Council and examines, modifies and occasionally rejects European proposals from the Commission. The influence and role of Parliament has developed and it now has a significant impact on the daily lives of European citizens in important areas of policy, including environment, transport, social policy and food safety, where it has full powers of co-decision. The services directive and the chemicals regulation, REACH, directive are two recent examples of major European legislation which the European Parliament played a decisive role in shaping.

The Parliament also shares budgetary powers with the Council. It has a powerful role in adopting or rejecting the annual EU budget and helping to distribute financial resources between different community programmes, which has a significant impact on the daily lives of European citizens. The Lisbon treaty increases the number of areas in which the European Parliament will share the task of law-making with the Council of Ministers through co-decision, and the budgetary role of the Parliament will be also strengthened.

The current legislative provision for the payment of MEPs in Ireland, the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act 1979, provides that Irish MEPs should be paid an allowance equal to that paid to Members of Dáil Éireann out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas. During the passage of that legislation through the Oireachtas, the view was expressed by some Members that it was not appropriate for one Parliament, the Oireachtas, to make provision for the payment of Members of another Parliament. It was also pointed out that the European Parliament was expected shortly to develop and adopt proposals for a unitary system for the payment of all MEPs. However, it was not until December 2003 that the European Parliament finally addressed the issue by voting in favour of a formula establishing, inter alia, the principle of the independence of MEPs and parity of treatment between them.

Implementation arrangements were developed by the European Parliament having regard to the opinion of the Commission. These were approved by the Council of Ministers in July 2005. Accordingly, the proposals developed have the full agreement of all member states and the expressed agreement of the three major institutions of the European Union. The agreed implementation arrangements are set out in the decision of the European Parliament, 2005/684/EC, adopting the Statute for Members of the European Parliament, and will come into effect later this month. The legal position in regard to the statute is that the terms of the statute, in so far as it is addressed to member states, are binding by virtue of European law. Legislation at national level is required to give effect to certain provisions of the statute. The European Parliament (Irish Constituency Members) Bill 2009 addresses this requirement.

The purpose of the Bill, as set out in the explanatory memorandum, is to change the current statutory provisions providing for the payment of Irish MEPs by the Oireachtas by revoking the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Act 1979; make statutory provision for current MEPs who are re-elected and wish to continue to be paid by the Oireachtas; confirm that the existing pension scheme, the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Pensions Scheme 1979, SI 387 of 1979, made under the 1979 Act remains in force to discharge existing and preserved benefits; and provide a statutory basis for certain tax, pension, administrative and conflict of interest issues.

Section 1 is a standard provision setting out the definitions of terms used in the Bill for interpretation and other purposes. The overall thrust of the statute adopted by the European Parliament is to apply a single system of payment for all MEPs with effect from the new parliamentary term beginning later this July. However, the measures adopted by the Parliament facilitate a period of transition for existing MEPs who were re-elected in the recent elections. Section 2 provides for current MEPs who are re-elected and exercise the option available to them under the statute to continue to be paid under the Irish national system. The salary paid will continue, as at present, to be the same rate as a salary for a Member of Dáil Éireann.

Section 3 empowers the Minister to make, amend or revoke a contributory pension scheme for Members and former Members of the European Parliament. It provides continuity for the existing scheme established under the 1979 Act by confirming it remains in force. Continuation of the existing scheme is required to enable the discharge of existing liabilities due to former MEPs and to preserve accrued benefits for current MEPs.

Section 5 of the 1979 Act provides for the disqualification of Irish MEPs for membership of or employment by certain bodies. The relevant bodies are detailed in the Schedule to the Act. Section 4 of the new Bill makes similar provision. Section 5 of the 1979 Act sought to extend the then existing limitations in the individual statutory provisions for each of the bodies which generally were designed to ensure a person should not, at the same time, be a Member of the Oireachtas and a member of a board or staff of a State sponsored body. It would not have been practical at the time to seek to amend each of the individual statutory provisions for each of the bodies to deal with the issue of membership of the European Parliament. Therefore, the matter was addressed in the 1979 Act by section 5 and the associated Schedule.

The opportunity was taken in the new Bill to review and update the Schedule. The outcome of this review is that changes in circumstance, legislation and status affecting the bodies require that only ten of the 41 listed in the Schedule to the 1979 Act be included in the Schedule to this Bill. One additional body has been proposed by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources for inclusion. The Irish National Petroleum Corporation Limited, INPC, is a legacy State company established under the Companies Act by the Government for oil trading purposes during the oil crises in the late 1970s. The memorandum and articles of association for the company exclude membership in the Oireachtas for directors but do not include a similar exclusion in respect of membership of the European Parliament. To maintain consistency, the opportunity is being taken to include this in the Schedule to the Bill.

Section 5 inserts a new section 127 A in the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997. This section makes provision for the application of national taxation provisions to the salary paid by the European Parliament, subject to avoidance of double taxation of the salary. It provides for the granting of a credit against Irish tax due on an MEP's salary of an amount equal to the tax paid by the MEP for the benefit of the European Union in respect of that salary. The section also clarifies under which income tax schedule an MEP's salary is taxable.

Section 6 is a technical amendment of the Ministerial, Parliamentary and Judicial Offices and Oireachtas Members (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2001. For the avoidance of doubt, it confirms that service as an MEP for which the Member obtains preserved or paid pension benefits from the European Parliament cannot be treated as pensionable service that can be also transferred and reckonable for the purposes of the Oireachtas pensions scheme or the European Assembly (Irish Representatives) Pension Scheme 1979. In practical terms, it affirms the principle that service can be utilised only once for pension credit purposes.

Section 7 provides for a legislative basis to enable the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission to conclude a service agreement with the European Parliament to act, on a recoupment basis, as a paying agent in respect of certain costs. The European Parliament has sought the agreement of all national parliaments to act as paying agents. The proposal from the European Parliament relates only to the costs of parliamentary assistants to MEPs, that is, the cost of a contract of employment and the cost of a contract for services provided locally. The proposal requires that the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission will act simply as an agent for making certain payments on behalf of the European Parliament. Funding, rates, liability for costs and so on remain a matter for the European Parliament. The Houses of the Oireachtas Commission is amenable to the request made by the European Parliament, and enabling legislation is required to facilitate the conclusion of a service agreement.

Sections 8 to 10, inclusive, are standard provisions providing for the repeal of the 1979 Act, expenses incurred in the administration of the Act to be paid out of moneys provided by Oireachtas, the Short Title of the Act, and designating when the Act comes into force.

The current annual cost to the Exchequer of funding salaries for MEPs is €1.2 million. The implementation of the European Parliament decision will involve the Parliament assuming the cost of funding of salaries for MEPs from July 2009. This will potentially provide a maximum €1.2 million per annum reduction in costs to the Exchequer, but this sum may be reduced somewhat depending on the number of MEPs who qualify for and avail of the option to maintain their existing salary provisions from the new parliamentary term beginning this month. Current funding of pensions for former MEPs, which amounted to €0.6 million per annum, will continue in the short term but will reduce over time as existing liabilities under the pension scheme are discharged and future liabilities for MEP pensions are met by the European Parliament.

I remind Members of the need to give legislative authority to the provisions of this Bill in compliance with our European obligations before the beginning of the 2009 European Parliament term commencing on 14 July. Accordingly, I commend the Bill to the House.

See this speech in context