Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In response to Deputy Pearse Doherty, the Minister of State said that under section 19(7), any direction issued by the Minister will be published as soon as practicable in a manner to be decided by the Minister. There are many other references in the Bill to directions issued by the Minister. Is there a complementary requirement to publish all of these directions? If so, in what manner will this be done?

The reference to freedom of information legislation does not inspire me, because none of us should have to be poking around such legislation to get our hands on directions issued by the Minister of the day to the agency in respect of these significant powers. At a bare minimum, directions should be published in a timely and transparent manner. The matter of putting them before the Dáil to a vote is one I support in respect of the substantive directions but, at a minimum, they should be published in a transparent fashion. Does this commitment apply to all directions possible under the Bill?

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