Results 16,021-16,040 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We are considering the other two amendments. That is fine. I will not refer to it. Let us consider amendments Nos. 13 and 14. Amendment No. 13 states: "Notwithstanding any rules referred to in this section, one quarter of the members of a committee shall constitute a sufficient number of committee members to deem a proposal to have been proposed by a committee." Is that what Deputy...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: No; amendment No. 13 states: "Notwithstanding any rules referred to in this section, one quarter of the members of a committee shall constitute a sufficient number of committee members to deem a proposal to have been proposed by a committee." Is Deputy Donnelly standing over that?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Section 11 of the Bill is a proposal by a committee to conduct a Part 2 inquiry. That is a big step. The Deputy is saying that a quarter of the members of the committee can determine that against the wishes of three-quarters. Taken with the evidence that Deputy Fleming has already given, the notion that the Deputy is curing what he perceives to be a bias by virtue of a majority being able...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That is amendment No. 13. Is the Deputy proceeding with that amendment?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: We were talking about amendment No. 13 but Deputy Donnelly seems to be resiling from that.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy is saying that a quarter of a committee should overrule three-quarters.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Can we deal with the amendment that is before us?

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I am dealing exclusively with amendment No. 13 in Deputy Donnelly's name, to amend section 11 which concerns the power of a committee to make a proposal to conduct a Part 2 inquiry. The amendment, which I find extraordinary, is that one quarter of a committee can make that determination, overruling three-quarters of the committee. That is fundamentally wrong. It is a tyranny. The Deputy...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: That could happen anyway but the notion that a quarter of a committee would overrule three-quarters strikes me as fundamentally flawed.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The same logic applies here except that the amendment refers to the whole House. The notion that a quarter would overrule three-quarters would be a source of great mischief.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: They obviously do not have Article 15.1.1° of our Constitution, which states: All questions in each House shall, save as otherwise provided by this Constitution, be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting other than the Chairman or presiding member. The Deputy's amendment is unconstitutional.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 17: In page 24, before section 14, but in Part 2, to insert the following new section: "CHAPTER 214.—Section 15 applies when—(a) a notice of motion referred to in Article 12.10.3 of the Constitution has been signed subject to and in accordance with the provisions of that Article, (b) a resolution referred to in Article 12.10.4 of the Constitution has been...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 18: In page 24, before section 14, but in Part 2, to insert the following new section:15.—(1) (a) Subject to paragraph (b) and subsection (4), when this section applies, a committee may investigate the charge under Article 12.10 of the Constitution by virtue of which this section applies.(b) The other provisions of this Act shall, with all necessary modifications,...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 19: In page 24, subsection (1), lines 35 to 38, to delete paragraphs (d) and (e) and substitute the following:"(d) if the inquiry is a section 9 inquiry, make such a finding pursuant to the relevant provisions of section 9, (e) if the inquiry is a section 10 inquiry, make such a finding pursuant to the relevant provisions of section 10, and (f) if the inquiry is a section...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Bill is crafted on the advice of the Attorney General and I am advised that it is constitutional. It is important that we are able to get access to any document and that a person cannot simply refuse access on the grounds that the document might incriminate himself or herself. There is no criminal sanction in the Bill so the mere furnishing of a document would not lead to a criminal...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I fully accept it in that spirit. I recheck any point raised. We would not propose anything that had not been stamped by the Attorney General. Any legislation comes with a stamped copy which shows that it is, on the advice of the Office of the Attorney General, constitutional. We would not propose it otherwise. By long-standing practice, it is not the norm to give the formal advice of...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: Yes.

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: The Deputy has raised a number of issues. I take his point on definitions. In terms of his general point, this is a catch-all set of guidelines. We will not be prescriptive about every eventuality. On the particular question raised by the Deputy on subsection (2)(b), there will be occasions when a scoping exercise will be done, whether it is a report of the Comptroller and Auditor...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: -----or another report that finds there is an issue to be looked at. Somebody in that report might require more robust protections if there were to be a formal inquiry, such as the right to attend all sessions, cross-examine and so on, but the panoply of legal rights will not be distributed in the same way to everybody. If somebody is a casual witness he or she should not be allowed to...

Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform: Select Sub-Committee on Public Expenditure and Reform: Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Bill 2013: Committee Stage (5 Jun 2013)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 20: In page 27, subsection (6), line 37, to delete “in any way” and substitute “for that reason alone”.Section 17 deals with the power of the Chairman to give directions. Subsection (3) provides that the House may, by resolution, remove a committee member from a committee for contravening a direction given to him or her pursuant to the...