Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be here. I apologise for the delay but there was ongoing voting in the Dáil for which I had to stay back. I dealt with this Bill on Committee Stage in the Dáil and am delighted to present it to the Seanad today on Second Stage. It is a technical Bill which is required to transpose Articles 1 and 3 of Directive 2014/32 EU of the European Parliament and the Council dated 26 February 2014 on the harmonisation of the laws of member states of the European Union relating to the making available on the market of measuring instruments. The remaining 52 articles of the directive will be transposed into Irish law by way of a ministerial regulation under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972.

The purpose of the directive is to establish a requirement that measuring instruments must satisfy with a view to their being made available on the market or put into use. The Bill applies to the putting into use of measuring instruments that are set out in the Schedule to the Bill. These instruments, which we all know, are: water meters; gas meters and volume conversion devices; fuel dispensers, for example, for petrol; measuring systems on road markers; measuring systems for loading road tankers; measuring systems for milk; automatic weighing instruments; taximeters; material measures of length and capacity-serving measures; and exhaust gas analysers. For all these instruments, the requirements of the recast Directive 2014/32/EC apply for the putting into use for the purpose of levying taxes and duties and fair trading, except for exhaust gas analysers, which is for the purpose of protecting the environment. I wish it to be clear to the Seanad that this does not represent a change in policy; the Bill is merely required to transpose the recast directive into Irish law. These measuring instruments are the same ones that are currently subject to this type of regulation.

The deadline for the transposition is overdue and, in light of that, the Bill was prioritised in the spring-summer legislative programme of the Office of the Chief Whip, as published on 17 January 2017. The Department has also consulted with the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, which decided on 21 June last that, given the urgent need to enact the legislation, it would not undertake pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill. I thank all Seanad Members on the committee for their input. It was extremely important and shows what can be done when we collaborate on important Bills like this.

By way of background to the Bill, the Attorney General's office advised that the operational provisions in Articles 1 and 3 of the directive must be transposed separately through primary legislation by means of a stand-alone technical Bill. A Schedule is attached to the Bill, setting out the categories of measuring instruments and prescribed uses to which the directive will apply. The other articles of the directive can, however, be transposed by way of a ministerial statutory instrument by making regulations under section 3 of the European Communities Act 1972. The Bill and the statutory instrument should both come into effect on the same date.

Legal metrology is primarily concerned with measuring instruments used in trade which are themselves legally controlled. The main objective of legal metrology is to assure citizens of correct measurement results when used in trade and commercial transactions. As I said, this is a short technical Bill to transpose Articles 1 and 3 of the directive. There are no technical changes arising from the Bill which affect the instruments concerned. The aim of the recast directive is to improve compliance with existing legislation relating to harmonised products in this area. The only additional burden on operators will be the requirement to have a more detailed and standardised itinerary of instruments.

My officials have been in formal contact with the European Commission on a quarterly basis via our permanent representation in Brussels to update it on the transposition of the directive. Since the Bill commenced its progress through the Houses of the Oireachtas on Friday, 14 July 2017, my officials have been updating Commission officials informally on a weekly basis due to the possibility of infringement proceedings and a formal reasoned opinion which issued in December 2016. The passage of this technical Bill through the Dáil commenced when the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, moved that it be read a Second Time on 14 July 2017. I handled Committee Stage on Wednesday, 28 September 2017, and Report and Final Stages were taken by the Minister of State, Deputy Helen McEntee, who has responsibility for European affairs. This demonstrates clearly that we are making efforts to transpose the overdue directive into Irish law as soon as possible.

I acknowledge the supportive approach of Dáil Members when the Bill went through our Lower House. They did not table any amendments to the Bill. As the Bill is technical, it consists of only four heads. The Bill and the statutory instrument giving effect to the remaining 52 articles of the directive should both come into effect on the same date. I ask Senators to adopt a similar approach to their colleagues in the Dáil by passing the Bill as soon as possible. I understand from my officials that the Seanad's secretariat has provisionally scheduled Committee, Report and Final Stages in the Seanad for Tuesday, 24 October, which is next week. The supportive approach of the Seanad is very much appreciated by all of us, in particular my Department. I commend the Legal Metrology (Measuring Instruments) Bill 2017 to the House.