Alex White (Labour)

I am prepared to accept we will be better served by this measure from what the Minister of State explained to the House and the relatively limited information we have about it. It prompts me, however, to make a general point which will arise in the House every week following the coming into force of the Lisbon treaty. There will be a much more advanced engagement by the EU's national parliaments in European legislation, whether decisions, directives, regulations or otherwise. We must find a way of ensuring we see a little more of the detail behind this legislation. I know people sigh when they think of the tedium of reading through material from Europe. I understand Members' concerns in that regard but we are here to do a job.

It causes me a slight amount of concern to see that we are being asked today, 26 November, to agree to a motion in respect of document which was only laid before the Houses yesterday. I am not levelling that as a criticism at the Minister — at least not for the moment — but we need to stand back and ask if we are doing justice to our job and the people we represent when we agree to a document essentially sight unseen. I have not seen the draft Council decision because I have not had the time to go to the Library to examine it in the past 24 hours.

A way must be found to ensure this information gets to Members. People might say we could go and look for it. With the best will in the world, that is not the way life is because busy, practising politicians tend not to have the time to ferret out information. We need to devise a means by which we are notified more clearly and with a little more notice than 24 hours.

In fairness, the Minister of State provided a summary of the draft Council decision. It is important still that we have an opportunity to examine the document itself and ensure, particularly with such measures, it is taken on having read it rather than simple trust.

The Government will have to introduce legislation to back up this measure. I appreciate this is not the end of the story but the beginning and that these matters will not enter into operation until legislation is passed by May 2011. What restrictions are in place in the current regime of information exchange? The Minister of State said, the Council decision is to provide a fresh legal basis for the third pillar customs information system to allow the information to be used more fully. Does the Council believe it must free up the use of this information or have different categories available on the system? That suggests to me restrictions on the use of the information are already in place. What restrictions are already in place and why is it necessary to change them?

I agree with and support the involvement of the Data Protection Commissioner in this process. It is only appropriate he is involved and consulted. Past commissioners have served us well and have given opinions on particular developments. What is the current commissioner's view on this measure and does he have any concerns about it?

Article 44 provides guidance on the inclusion of data and that personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership cannot be included on the system. Article 25 provides for the involvement of the European data protection supervisor. Article 13 provides that data have to be corrected, rectified or erased if inaccurate or contrary to the Council decision. While we are familiar with such articles, these are appropriate in this measure. The Government and the Council must bear in mind that it is necessary to keep those protections in place and that they do not undermine it. Not including them would be entirely wrong.

These protections do not take from the general thrust of the measure which is that there should be robust system of the exchange and availability of information to and by the appropriate agencies, Revenue Commissioners and otherwise. I have no difficulty with supporting the motion with the caveats I have entered. I look forward to the introduction of the legislation.