Roderic O'Gorman (Dublin West, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 4:

In page 6, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following:

“ “dissolution day” means the day appointed under section 13;”.

On Committee Stage I outlined my intention to bring forward amendments to provide for the office to be formally dissolved and for any residual functions of the chief deciding officer to be transferred to the Minister. New sections covered by amendments Nos. 15 to 19, inclusive, provide for the dissolution of the office of the chief deciding officer following the cessation of the scheme. These new sections partly reflect comparable dissolution provisions included in the Institutional Burials Act 2022. They are important to ensure clarity regarding the wind-up of the office, the smooth management of residual issues and the long-term management of records.

Amendment No. 15 provides the Minister with the authority to appoint a day on which the office of the chief deciding officer will cease to exist, with this day not being than the cessation date for the scheme, as already provided for in the Bill. The inclusion of this section necessitates a definition of "dissolution date" to be provided in section 2 and this is done through amendment No. 4.

Amendment No. 16 allows for functions that were previously assigned to the chief deciding officer to be performed by the Minister following the dissolution of the office.

Amendment No. 17 provides that any legal proceedings in train to which the chief deciding officer is a party may continue in the name of the Minister and the office may still be dissolved. Reference to the chief deciding officer shall henceforth be construed as references to the Minister. Where relevant, anything that has commenced but is not completed prior to dissolution day shall be completed on or after the dissolution day by the Minister. This is provided for in amendment No. 18.

Importantly, amendment No. 19 provides that records in the possession of the chief deciding officer will be deposited with the Minister for the purposes of performing any residual functions. The records will be considered to be departmental records within the meaning of the National Archives Act 1986 and the general data protection directive and all relevant protocols will apply.

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