Brian Ó Domhnaill (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Two reports were published by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine this morning. One was a comprehensive report on the greyhound industry while the other was a report on the horse racing industry. I welcome a number of stakeholders from horse racing here this morning. They include Mervyn Clarke from the Cavan Equestrian Centre and his friend and colleague, Martin Gaffney. They are friends of Senator Wilson who has an interest in the report. The industries obtain approximately €55 million under the Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund so it is important that the Oireachtas scrutinises that. No doubt, we will have a debate on those reports in due course.

I second Senator Byrne's amendment to the Order of Business regarding the use of the words of former US President, John F. Kennedy, in an advertisement for economic gain by the Irish Wind Energy Association. I think it is shameful and wrong and should be pulled from the airwaves immediately. If the Irish Wind Energy Association has any conscience, it will do that forthwith by instructing the platforms to withdraw that advertisement.

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business concerning the EU Scrutiny and Transparency in Government Bill 2013. This is a very important area. An OECD report commissioned on behalf of the Houses of the Oireachtas published before Christmas identified Oireachtas oversight responsibilities and shortcomings in that area in terms of budgetary oversight. It also looked at European scrutiny of legislation which is impacting this member state. Generally speaking, 97% of all the laws made in Brussels that impact on this State go unscrutinised through the parliamentary committee system because of time constraints on committee work and the workload of committee members. A review of the way we carry out our political business would be a major step in the right direction. This Bill should be accepted, so I propose that we take it today.