Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

It is unprecedented that the advice given to the Government has been published and sent to all Deputies and Senators. It refers to advice provided by the Attorney General to the Department of Health regarding European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012. It states: "Regulations made under the European Communities Act 1972 may not be annulled unless the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs recommends to the Houses of the Oireachtas that such regulations be annulled." That is totally inaccurate. I am a member of the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs and the responsibility for scrutiny has been transferred to the Select Sub-Committee on European Scrutiny of the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, not the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. We should be quite clear about that. This matter has never come before the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. None of the regulations comes before the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs. Many Senators are members of that committee and they can confirm what I say. We do not scrutinise European Union legislation. That responsibility has been transferred to another committee of the House. There is no recommendation of the joint committee in respect of SI 325 of 2012 - European Union (Quality and Safety of Human Organs Intended for Transplantation) Regulations 2012. Therefore, any recall under section 4(2) of the 1972 Act is redundant.

It is unprecedented for the Attorney General's advice to be sent out. This is a separate House of the Oireachtas with powers of its own separate from the Dáil, and it certainly takes precedence over any sub-committee or joint committee of this House. We should be quite clear about that. I would appreciate it if our learned journalists would look into this matter further because they will find that the advice given is flawed. It is politically biased in favour of the Minister of State's Department, and the Minister is a senior counsel.