Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

For clarity, this relates to the Minister giving directions to the Shannon group and not to the regulator. The power of direction granted to a Minister in respect of State bodies for which he or she is responsible is a normal provision of any legislation establishing a State body. In this Bill, the power is constrained in two ways. The Minister can only make directions to the Shannon group in respect of the performance of its functions and directions can only require it to comply with the policies of Government. Obviously, the Minister could not direct the Shannon group to act in contravention of Government policy. It is the primary responsibility of the Minister to oversee and, as necessary, direct the operation of any State bodies under his or her control.

Before making a decision on this amendment, I have a few thoughts, or a few questions, on which the Senator might expand. When he said "notify" the Oireachtas joint committee, what would that mean? Would it just be a letter of notification telling the joint committee what is happening? Is he suggesting the joint committee would have to hold a hearing on it or have rescinding powers or approval powers? Would an alternative be that any direction should be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas or just put in the Oireachtas Library as a potential alternative so that at least there is transparency in regard to the directions rather than going by letter to the Clerk? What would happen if it was a matter of urgency, for example, or, in particular in regard to an airport, it related to State security? There could potentially be issues about putting a direction before the House, publishing it or making it available to the public if it related to a security matter. I do not want to recall the Arms Trial, etc., but I think Senators will know what I am thinking about. I would be interested in the Senator's thoughts on how that might work in practice and what unintended consequences might arise.