Dick Roche (Wicklow, Fianna Fail)

This is a thorny issue which has arisen because of the wide nature of the measure which is universal. The Government is committed to an open and transparent system of the Oireachtas and it would be a very foolish Government that would try to roll back the decisions we all made in recent years to be more open. Section 3(2) makes it clear that the Minister may make a report to either or both Houses of the Oireachtas or to a committee of either or both Houses in relation to the proposed measure as he or she deems appropriate in the circumstances.

The provision on confidentiality is necessary because of the wide remit of the Bill which covers literally everything. It embraces all three pillars, including proposals by member states under the second and third tiers. This could deal with issues such as the Justice and Home Affairs area, which it may not be a good idea to discuss or even, for example, the controversial issue of the Common Foreign and Security Policy. If, for example, there was a proposal to impose sanctions such as those imposed against the regime of the former Yugoslav President Milosevic, it might not be of benefit to discuss such matters at a very early stage.

The idea of dealing with confidential issues is a necessary inclusion but it is clearly something that should be used as an exception. There are precedents for this in other legislation, including in the Ombudsman and Freedom of Information legislation. There is an arrangement whereby we accept Ministers will not abuse such a position. They would be very foolish to do so.

There were discussions with Fine Gael on this matter in the other House. The issue is to provide for confidentiality in very exceptional circumstances where a matter arises the sensitivity of which is such that it could not be discussed in open session.