Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief. Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. This Bill is primarily about the transfer of functions from one Department to another in an area we all know about and that is important. There have been no amendments other than two tabled by me, which were ruled out of order. I will take this opportunity to say that no matter how apparently normal and necessary the provisions of a particular Bill are, it should not be the case that a Bill like this is rushed through the House like a dose of salts without an opportunity being given to table amendments properly, to have them considered and, arising out of whatever discussion might take place, to give people an opportunity to consider again the bringing forward of amendments on Report Stage.

I indicated to the Minister of State at the Department of Health, Deputy Rabbitte, last week that, in my view, there is a need to provide for better corporate governance in the context of the making available of moneys in the charitable and voluntary sector.I made the point that such moneys should not be made available to organisations that were not providing proper audited accounts. I previously raised the specific example of Transgender Equality Network Ireland, TENI, which received moneys from the State in circumstances where it had not supplied audited accounts. That arrangement has at least been suspended for the moment. I also made the point that it does not matter what organisation is involved or what cause it is promoting. It is simply not good governance for money to be made available from the public purse, funded by the taxpayer, to organisations in circumstances where they have not supplied properly audited accounts. I gave the example of the requirement on us, as politicians, and on funding for political parties. Where there is not appropriate accounting, the payment of moneys from the Exchequer stops.

The amendments I had tabled have been ruled out of order but they are, in my view, sufficiently related to the subject matter of the Bill because the Long Title clearly provides that the Bill provides, inter alia, for the corporate governance arrangements of the HSE. I accept the ruling of the Cathaoirleach that my amendments are out of order. The amendments would have provided that no payments would be made by the Executive to a service provider which is a body corporate in respect on arrangement under section 34 until the service provider was in compliance with its obligations under section 343 of the Companies Act. That is a reasonable and responsible amendment to propose. It is sufficiently related to the subject matter of a health Bill that is described as containing miscellaneous provisions.

The section of the principal Act I was proposing to amend is among those being amended in this Bill. I find myself in the situation that not only have my amendments not been accepted for consideration but there is no opportunity or break allowed for me to consider bringing forward those amendments on Report Stage and to ask for further and better consideration by the Cathaoirleach of their relevance to the subject matter of the Bill. It is not good for our democracy when we have cursory, and sometimes apparently arbitrary, consideration of the relevance of certain amendments to the subject matter of Bills. It seems to me that the procedural resources available to these House to prevent willy-nilly introduction of extraneous matters into legislation, including the guillotine and other procedural arrangements, are already ample to prevent abuse of the parliamentary process. I am concerned by the all-too-frequent rulings that rule amendments out of order in circumstances where we are rushing legislation. There surely must be time available to consider sincere and well-intentioned amendments to Bills that are proposed by Senators.

It is clear that the amendments I tabled would have restricted funding to organisations, such as TENI or any other charitable or voluntary organisation, unless they provide audited accounts. That is just responsible legislation. It is what the public would expect. There is widespread public concern about the waste of taxpayers' money. It seems that when it comes to considering if that sufficiently relates to the subject matter of the Bill, it is clearly not related to some of the specifics that the Bill contains but is certainly relevant in general terms to the Long Title. The Long Title makes reference to the provisions in this Bill for revised corporate governance and accountability arrangements of the HSE. It seems to me there is scope for a more inclusive approach to serious amendments that are being proposed to legislation. That should be even more applicable in circumstances where mine were the only amendments tabled.Surely, it was not the case that these amendments were going to contribute to the holding up of necessary legislation. That simply was not and is not happening here. I wish to take the opportunity to register my disappointment with the Cathaoirleach's ruling that the two amendments I proposed in all seriousness were out of order. I further regret and, on that basis, oppose the continuation to Report Stage in circumstances where there is no chance being given to seek further clarification around that decision.