Results 13,421-13,440 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 could be finished in five minutes.

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 should be careful in what he says.

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 will be aware that we must make provision to protect the security of the State, international agreements and the conduct of legal proceedings. There are clear separations of power and if somebody is in the midst of legal proceedings, we cannot conduct a parallel investigation. The issue arising is whether the exercise of that power is to be reviewed. I will reflect on that issue...

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 simply to reflect the constitutional position.

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 general view is that once the Cabinet has disposed of an issue, all the documentation that emerges from Cabinet is public.

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 a general prescription that any inquiry must deal with under the constraints of the Constitution.

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; we need to lay out the ground rules to say this is what one cannot do. The scope that is not circumscribed here is huge and I have no difficulty with this.

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 cannot imagine any skilled parliamentarian asking me who supported something at Cabinet or what we discussed at Cabinet. He or she would ask the question in a much more skilful way that would not fall foul of 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: There is nothing technical about it. One cannot rewrite it. It does not refer to a tribunal, full stop, or a Minister. It refers to an application on that behalf by a tribunal appointed by the Government or a Minister of the Government.

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: It is a tribunal. That is crystal clear. I remember the discussion of the amendment. The only two cases which were put to the people in the referendum that could weaken the total protection of Cabinet confidentiality under the Constitution were where the administration of justice by a court required it or pursuant to an application by a tribunal of inquiry established by a Minister or the...

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: It is reciting the constitutional constraints within which tribunals operate. That is everything we have done. We have replicated lots of constitutional provisions in this because we want to set out the clear constitutional framework of what is and is not permissible in one single Act.

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. 35: In page 59, subsection (1)(f)(iii), to delete lines 25 and 26 and substitute the following:"prejudice the tax and duty collection, audit and enforcement systems, and".Subsection (1)(f) provides that a committee shall not direct a person to provide information kept for the purposes of assessing the liability of any person in respect of a tax, duty or other payment due...

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. 36: In page 59, subsection (2), line 31, to delete "or (f)" and substitute "or (b)".This is a technical 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: Where are we?

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: Basically, we are repealing the 1997 Act, which is the base Act regarding the compellability powers that all committees have. Everyone refers to it as the 1997 Act. All this does is to replicate what was done in 1997.

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 sure the Deputy could craft a suitable amendment between now and Report Stage.

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 will reflect on the point made.

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 have been involved in a number of tribunals of inquiry, including, for example, the tribunal on blood contamination. There is no issue with going through all the policy issues and what was done in a Department in relation to such matters. There would not be an issue either with regard to the issues the Chairman mentions. What is protected is Cabinet documentation and Cabinet discussions....

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. Only in so far as-----

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 cannot change the Constitution.