Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Last week, I accused the Government of sabotaging the democratic and legislative process because of the use of money messages on 55 Bills. I am glad that generated quite a significant debate in the following week. People Before Profit seems to be particularly hard hit by this and I do not believe it is a coincidence. Our climate emergency measures Bill, medicinal cannabis Bill, Anti-Evictions Bill and objective sex education Bill were all money messaged. Quite a way back, we introduced the first Bill to ban fracking in this country and, as Deputy Howlin indicated, lo and behold, shortly afterwards a Fine Gael Bill to ban fracking was published, although it permitted offshore fracking to continue.

In response to this, the Taoiseach said the Ceann Comhairle made the decision and it had nothing to do with the Government. That is not true when it comes to the climate emergency measures Bill and this needs to be said very publicly. Last February, after it passed Second Stage, the Ceann Comhairle stated the Bill to keep fossil fuels in the ground did not need a money message. Subsequently, on Second Stage and during pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, the Government did not raise any suggestion there was a charge on the Exchequer, not even incidental costs, because it thought it could stop it another way, which it attempted to do by holding it hostage at the joint committee. We voted to get it back to the committee and just a few days before it was due to go to the committee for scrutiny, the Minister contacted the Ceann Comhairle and said that by the way, 18 months later, there were a few costs through the return of licensing fees and potential legal action. None of this is true. We have a legal opinion from barristers to state they are made up costs.

The Government has misinformed the Ceann Comhairle because there are no licence fees to be returned. The terms and conditions for licences for gas, oil and exploration are explicit. They explicitly state the Minister cannot have any actions taken against him or her. He or she can vary the licences, withdraw, cancel or delay them and do what the hell he or she likes with them and this is set out clearly in the terms for issuing licences. The Government has misled the Ceann Comhairle in a desperate last-minute effort to apply a money message to a Bill that even it did not suggest needed a money message before and where the Ceann Comhairle had previously concluded it did not need one. There could not be a clearer example of the subversion and abuse of the democratic and legislative process than this. This should stop. The Government should withdraw the suggestion there are costs related to the Bill when they do not exist.

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