Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

I thank the Minister for his comments and wish him well in his portfolio. I thank him for coming to the House. As he said, this uncontroversial Bill did not attract robust exchanges on Second Stage. We were glad to co-operate with the Minister and point out to him some of the improvements that could be made to the legislation.

I wish to mention what I find amazing about the statutory instruments issue. It came to my attention when I read a thesis by Garrett Greene from County Clare on the analysis that is done by EU scrutiny committees. He pointed out that 75% of legislation is introduced in this manner. Perhaps the Minister will bring that fact to the attention of his Cabinet colleagues. Given that transparency is so important, we need more oversight of statutory instruments. I am sure the Attorney General is not as concerned about what the Minister can get away with. It is a question of having the best and most efficient system. I do not intend to spend my evenings reading the latest statutory instruments that have been approved by these Houses. I suggest that the members of all committees be given a list of the latest statutory instruments, as well as details of what such instruments will do, as a matter of course. I estimate that 99% of statutory instruments are fairly standard. They involve small measures like increases in fines. I am afraid that the 1% of statutory instruments that might cause trouble down the line could be among those that are passed sight unseen. I thank the Minister for coming to the House today