Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I have no objection to the committee per sealthough this is a continuation of the balancing act the Government has been involved in since the establishment of this Dáil. There is an in-built predetermined majority within the proposed committee, with or without the independent chairman. It is an issue. I hope that everyone would go in to the committee with an open mind to hear clear argument but when people announce in advance that this is what is to be done it undermines the principle of listening to the clear arguments to be made.

I support the amendment put forward by Sinn Féin. There is a principle that a committee selects its own Chairman. It is not a good precedent for the Government to do so as the whole idea is that Parliament is separate from Government in determining who should chair any committee. The committee itself should make that determination. In general terms, once this precedent is established it would be a bad augury for future committees and the primacy of this House to make its own decisions on its own business.

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