Sean Barrett (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 19, line 31, after "direction." to insert "The direction shall be notified to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications.".

This section deals with the giving of directions and issuing of guidelines by the Minister to Shannon Group. As we already discussed, the difficulty that arose in the past had to do with the directive that was given in writing regarding terminal 2 at Dublin Airport. I am dissatisfied with this form of provision in general, an issue which also came up during our debate on the legislation to establish Irish Water. The practice of Ministers giving directions seems to be an attempt to bypass the Oireachtas. I am proposing, therefore, that if the Minister wishes to give a direction, it should be notified to the appropriate Oireachtas committee. Facilitating this type of secret activity is not what we came into this House three years ago to do.
The Minister has acknowledged that he would not have written the letter his predecessor did in regard to terminal 2. In fact, he has never issued such a direction during his term of office, which I welcome. Many of the difficulties that have arisen in respect of the water issue could have been alleviated if the proposals we brought forward in this House had been incorporated into that legislation. Ministers should seek to bring the Oireachtas in such matters with them by communicating openly. Unfortunately, what happened with terminal 2 set a very bad precedent. This amendment seeks to address the issue by requiring the Minister to notify the relevant committee of any proposal to issue a direction.