Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)

I move amendment No. 32:

In page 13, before section 20, but in Part 3, to insert the following new section:

20.—(1) A function (including a function consisting of the power to make a statutory instrument) of the Minister for Finance performed or purportedly performed by the Minister after the commencement of this Part, shall be deemed to have been validly performed by the Minister for Finance, if, at the time of the performance or purported performance of the function, the Minister believed that the function vested in him or her by virtue of subsection (1) or (4) of section 7.

(2) Where the Minister performs or purports to perform a function of the Minister for Finance, it shall, in any subsequent proceedings (whether civil or criminal), be presumed, unless the contrary is proved, that at the time of the performance or purported performance of the function the Minister believed that the function vested in him or her by virtue of subsection (1) or (4) of section 7.

(3) In this section "function" does not include a function of the Minister for Finance to which section 14(3), 15, 16, 18 or 19, or Part 4, applies.".

I understand amendments Nos. 32 to 34, inclusive, are being taken together. These amendments relate to the purported performance of functions. On amendment No. 32, functions regarding the superannuation, remuneration, appointment, terms and conditions of staff of public service bodies, or of members of boards of public service bodies, are being transferred collectively from the Minister for Finance to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform under section 7. Functions regarding sanctioning or approving expenses incurred in the administration of any statute are also transferred under section 7.

Given the volume of statutory provisions involved in these functions, it is necessary to provide for a potential scenario where one Minister may inadvertently perform a function of the other. Therefore, a function of the Minister for Finance performed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform shall be valid if at the time the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform believed that the function was vested in him under section 7(1) or 7(4). This does not include those functions for which the specific statutory provisions are explicitly transferred under this Bill. Therefore, it does not include a function of the Minister for Finance to which sections 14(3), 15, 16, 18 or 19, or Part 4, applies.

Amendment No. 33 is the reverse. Should the Minister for Finance perform a function of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, it shall be valid if the Minister for Finance believed that the function had not been transferred away from him. This does not include those functions for which the specific statutory provisions are explicitly transferred under the Bill. Therefore, it does not include functions transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform under section 6(1) or 6(2), section 7(2) or 7(3), or a function to which sections 14(3), 15, 16, 18 or 19, or Part 4, applies.

While it sounds convoluted, it is a saver clause. Where functions are explicitly transferred, they can only be exercised by the Minister to which they apply. However, where there might be any doubt and where there is consultation and other matters, if the wrong Minister exercises the function, it is deemed to be valid so that we do not have any hiatus in the proper functioning of Ministers in regard to the disaggregation of functions that is enumerated in these sections.

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