Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 7a:

In page 12, between lines 42 and 43 , to insert the following new subsection:

"(5) The Minister shall be a member of Dáil Éireann.".

The amendment requires that the Minister be a Member of Dáil Éireann. While that might seem to be an unusual amendment coming from a Member of Seanad Éireann - as far as I am aware, this was not pushed by my party in the Dáil - the Constitution requires that the Minister having charge of the Department of Finance, together with the Taoiseach and Tánaiste, be a Member of Dáil Éireann. The Constitution provides that two Ministers can be Members of Seanad Éireann.

It seems that when functions from the Department of Finance, as it existed at the time the Constitution was written and for most of the lifetime, practice and interpretation of the Constitution, are being transferred substantially to the Department of public expenditure and reform, it would be constitutional that the Minister having charge of that Department would not be a Member of Seanad Éireann but would only be a Member of Dáil Éireann. It might be relevant to put that into statute in case any Taoiseach would get a flight of fancy and decide to pick any of the good Senators on the other side of the House to be the Minister for public expenditure and reform.