Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We came back to the Seanad during the election period. It was not, in fact, this Seanad but the previous one, the 25th, that passed the Health (Preservation and Protection and other Emergency Measures in the Public Interest) Act. This is the first time that this Seanad has had the opportunity to scrutinise that legislation but that opportunity is being deeply curtailed by an inadequate period for debate and in the absence of proper pre-legislative scrutiny.There were lengthy debates of previous Bills as they came through in the last Government. There is a reason this Bill is being debated now, rather than a resolution. It was anticipated as it was important that there would be a hard sunset point, not simply one where things could be renewed by resolution. We are skipping the normal scrutiny of legislation, not having the usual kind of oversight and transferring from the Oireachtas substantial powers to the Minister, powers that a Minister would not normally exercise by statutory instrument. We have given the Minister the power to do more than he normally would by statutory instrument. Anyone looking back on the debates will see the then Ministers, Deputies Harris and Coveney, speaking on the sunset clause and how there would be chances for future debates, and that they wanted to allow one extension in order to deal with an emergency scenario but that the extensions would not be infinite. People have talked about November. My main concern is that as this Bill is currently worded, these powers could be extended until 2027 because it allows three-monthly renewals by resolution. Yes, that is the House deciding as a resolution, but it is not the same as pre-legislative scrutiny. It puts us in the position of all or nothing. It is as though we cannot talk about the bath water or change it without throwing out the baby. It is literally saying to us that each time one is for or against emergency powers rather than seeking insight from Members of the Oireachtas as to how the legislation might be improved. Senators McDowell and Ward, among others, have already pointed out ways in which the legislative drafting could have been improved in these powers. It is vitally important if the Minister asks us again to skip through the process and hand powers over - this is about trust, the public's trust-----