Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would like to think that the Government is making progress on that. In general, I think the formulation of policy and legislation is not being currently rushed through unless it is forced on us. I can cite a good example of why I cannot accept this amendment. In 2001 during the foot and mouth crisis, the then Minister made an order restricting the movement of animal and animal products from Northern Ireland on the night of Good Friday, having been notified of the outbreak of the disease that afternoon. If the Minister had been legally required before making a regulation to go to the Oireachtas to debate it, the then Minister would not have been able to respond in that instance. I agree with the Deputy that a better way to do this is to bring forward a draft regulation, have a debate on it, ensure that obvious mistakes are ironed out and that would give Opposition spokespersons, who take their job seriously, the opportunity to do that and then the regulation could be finalised and enforced. That is a preferable method but of any morning any issue could arise with which I would have to deal quickly. It could be an outbreak of a disease or a crisis, whether it be a dioxin scare, a foot and mouth crisis, an outbreak of BSE or some other issue, with which I would need to deal quickly and competently to lock down the situation. A Minister in my position needs to be given the powers to be able to do that, if he or she has to do so in an emergency situation. That is why we have a retrospective assessment of regulations when they are introduced and they can be annulled if they are not properly done. In this Department, in particular, given the history of the past 20 or 30 years, we need to be able to act very quickly in certain circumstances. What is being asked in these amendments, even though it is preferable in terms of practice in nine out of every ten regulations that I would have to introduce, in requiring a Minister to go through that procedure and forcing him or her potentially to wait for a Dáil sitting to introduce a regulation is not appropriate in all circumstances.

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