Michael McCarthy (Cork South West, Labour)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important legislation. From the outset, I wish to acknowledge the sterling work of former Deputies Seán Ardagh and Jim O'Keeffe in this area. I also want to remind the House of the risks taken by the current Minister, Deputy Brendan Howlin, and the former Deputy and current MEP, Jim Higgins, in challenging powerful lobbies. They put their reputations on the line in order to provide accountability and represent people effectively on this island as parliamentarians. This is a culmination not just of a very important part of the programme for Government, but also a vindication of a long-held objective of Deputy Howlin's. I congratulate him on bringing it forward with such speed so early in the new Government's term.

It is hoped that the Investigations, Oversight and Petitions committee will be effective in investigating various issues and making findings. We know the genesis of the referendum was the Supreme Court's judgment on Abbeylara. I cannot foresee any difficulty with the referendum being passed. We should bear in mind the good work done by the Committee of Public Accounts and its non-partisan approach. We should also be mindful of the great work that was done by the DIRT inquiry. It is an indication of the achievements that hopefully we will be able to obtain through the IOP committee.

It is a good thing to have an Opposition chair of that committee because it needs to be established on a strong footing and deserves no less. In that context, therefore, it is important to have an Opposition chair.

As vice-chair of the new Joint Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions - the body which will be the gateway for future Oireachtas inquiries - I strongly support the passage of this Bill through both Houses. It will enhance and empower the role of the Oireachtas in respect of scrutinising the activities and decisions of certain individuals and organisations.

The publication on Monday of the wording on the upcoming referendum on Oireachtas inquiries is a welcome and progressive step as the Dáil and Seanad resume after the summer recess. It is a promising indication of this Government's commitment to reform politics in this country and to reform the way Parliament operates. In particular, the Joint Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions will be a pivotal player in this context, subject to the electorate approving the constitutional amendments on 27 October.

A key to an effectively functioning committee system is a committee's ability to call and to compel witnesses. Having the power to compel specific witnesses and documents is of great operational and informational advantage. The legal basis by which committees can compel the attendance of witnesses is the Committees of the Houses of the Oireachtas Act 1997. This process is limited in two separate ways. First, individual committees cannot compel the attendance of witnesses but a sub-committee of the Dáil Committee on Procedures and Privileges, chaired by the Government Chief Whip, can do so. Therefore, the Government of the day has great influence over who can be compelled to give evidence to a committee, thus diminishing the influence, power and public perception of committees. I hope the new Bill will address these anomalies.

This Bill seeks to correct the weakened parliamentary system of inquiry brought about the Supreme Court's Abbeylara judgment, which stated that the Oireachtas could not conduct inquiries that impinged on the reputation of individuals. Ensuring that the Oireachtas has an effective system of inquiry which can secure effective and cost-efficient parliamentary scrutiny of issues of significant public importance is essential in facilitating more open, transparent and better government, as promised in the new programme for Government. This is a key element of the Government's ambitious political reform agenda. We are all aware of the length of time taken by tribunals of inquiry to conclude their investigations and we are aware of the obstruction of those tribunals by certain individuals and organisations and also of the huge costs borne by the taxpayer for the tribunals. It was never envisaged that tribunals would continue for as long as they have done nor that they would cost so much.

There has been some confusion today relating to the process. It is important that people are made aware that the prior investigation carried out by the investigator to establish the facts will be carried out in private. In any event, as the Minister, Deputy Howlin, has rightly pointed out, we do not want to go down a route whereby inquiries are held in public, so-called, star chambers. This would disrespect the parliamentary process and serve to Americanise the process of parliamentary scrutiny whereby witnesses would become unwitting public figures who are unfairly subjected to levels of comment scrutiny. The approach will be consistent with the DIRT inquiry model. It will help to control legal costs and it will reflect the approach taken by commissions of investigation. Above all, it will avoid a situation where an Oireachtas committee of inquiry committee might find itself in a potentially very long drawn-out process of establishing the facts, which a committee will not be equipped to do, rather than assessing and reviewing those facts through its examination of witnesses with a view to making findings and recommendations.

There has been some criticism from the legal industry today that the proposed amendment goes too far and could restrict the rights of citizens to fair procedures. It is easy to assume why such people would make this point but the current system has restricted the right of ordinary citizens to an effective inquiry system in the national Parliament. This is the only reasonable view with regard to this aspect. Powerful vested interests will not wish to see this system being successful.

The Law Reform Commission consultation paper in 2003 emphasised that the fundamental character of public inquiries is that they do not settle legal rights. They are intended to make an authoritative finding of the facts in regard to a matter of public interest. The consultation paper gives examples such as the cause of accidents, natural disasters or the performance of a public authority or big business. According to the Constitution, public inquiries do not administer justice, which is a function left solely to the courts of law.

The passage of this Bill and the subsequent approval of the constitutional amendment would be of immense benefit to the Joint Committee on Investigations, Oversight and Petitions as it will allow the committee to hold bankers to account for the collapse of the Irish economy. The people are entitled to see the architects of the current crisis held up to scrutiny by those who are elected to represent them. They want a parliamentary system with this power and authority, without the fear of recourse to the courts by those wishing to obstruct the inquiries.

Yesterday at the committee meeting I asked the Minister, Deputy Howlin, about the application of the Whip at the committee. I am pleased to say he informed me there will not be a Whip on the committee members. This will allow members of the committee the independence to adjudicate on matters in the public interest and the Government of the day will not have an undue influence on its deliberations. The committee needs that autonomy and independence.

I hope the Minister will be able to inform us of the budget for the committee. The Minister informed us that this committee would have a filtering role and would act as a gateway committee. However, we need to be certain that the committee will be empowered to initiate its own inquiry when needed. This is a very important function. I hope these views can be accommodated by the Government during the passage of this Bill.

See this speech in context