Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to defer consideration of the resumed Committee Stage of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill. Anyone who was in the Chamber last night or who was observing the debate would have been struck by the extraordinary and somewhat farcical nature of the debate. Those of us who were engaged in putting amendments in good faith – I have tabled 20 amendments to the Bill – asked the Minister whether he had sight of the Group of States against Corruption, GRECO, report. We know the report expressed significant concerns about the Government proposals in the Bill. I was able to read into the record of the House certain excerpts from the as-yet-unpublished GRECO report. At least, they are purported to be excerpts because no one can be sure what it is and we have not seen it yet. The Minister made the extraordinary statement in the House that he had not seen the report. It was unclear whether or how many people in his Department had seen it. He said he had not yet brought it to Government. He said he would seek Government clearance to publish it at the earliest opportunity. When we pressed him, the Minister said there would be a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, Thursday. We understood this to mean that he would be able to seek clearance from Government tomorrow to publish the report.

I am proposing an amendment to the Order of Business. It is reasonable to suggest to colleagues that we should not be asked to legislate in the dark. We should not debate amendments without knowledge of the full content of the GRECO report or without full knowledge of what the Minister's response will be when he eventually sees the report. It is a most unsatisfactory state of affairs. The House will sit late again tonight. We were here until 11 o'clock last night. We got to amendment No. 3 because of the issue surrounding the GRECO report. If we were simply to defer consideration of the resumed Committee Stage from today to enable us to have sight of the report when it is eventually republished, then we would be able to move things on far more swiftly and without the controversy that arose last night.

It is extraordinary for the Minister to state that a report is out that he knows of by a reputable Council of Europe body, the Council of Europe Group of States Against Corruption. The group has expressed or is reported to have expressed significant criticism about the Government proposals. The excerpt I have is up-to-date as of 31 May this year. Yet, the Minister has said he has not read it and only intends to seek clearance to publish it at the earliest opportunity, when we are half way through Committee Stage. We understand that the Minister wishes to have Report Stage next Tuesday, in less than a week.

It is utterly unsatisfactory to ask us to debate and draft amendments in this setting. I appeal to colleagues with any sense of decent and efficient procedure in this House to support the amendment to the Order of Business today. I am grateful to those who supported it yesterday. It is a reasonable to request that we would not be asked to continue the debate on Committee Stage without sight of the GRECO report. It is an important report that appears to be in the hands of many people. Some of us have excerpts from it, but the Minister does not yet appear to have read it.