Committee Reports > List of Committees > Dáil > 1995 > Select Committee on Legislation and Security > Report - Select Committee on Legislation and Security for the period 7 April, 1993 to 31 December, 1994

DÁIL ÉIREANN

TUARASCÁIL ón Roghchoiste um Reachtaíocht agus Slándáil don tréimhse 7 Aibreán, 1993 go 31 Nollaig, 1994

REPORT of the Select Committee on Legislation and Security for the period 7 April, 1993 to 31 December, 1994

DÁIL ÉIREANN

TUARASCÁIL ón Roghchoiste um Reachtaíocht agus Slándáil don tréimhse 7 Aibreán, 1993 go 31 Nollaig, 1994

REPORT of the Select Committee on Legislation and Security for the period 7 April, 1993 to 31 December, 1994

© Government of Ireland 1995

Table of Contents

Foreword by Chairman

The Select Committee on Legislation and Security was initially established in April 1993 by Order of Dáil Éireann. As a result of the change in Government the members of the Committee* were discharged on 24 January, 1995 and new members appointed on 10 March, 1995. It was not possible in the circumstances for the outgoing membership to conclude all the business which had been referred to the Committee by the Dáil or to finalise this Report. This duty has therefore fallen to the newly appointed Committee and Chairman, although the Report deals exclusively with the work of our precedessors.

I had the honour to be elected by the members as Chairman of the current Committee on 23 March, 1995. As the newly appointed Chairman I would like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to the former Chairman, Deputy Dan Wallace and the members of that Committee for the excellent work which they carried out in the first two years of the Committee’s existence. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the contribution and dedication of all those members who served on the sub-Committee of Enquiry, especially the contribution of the Deputy Dan Wallace who was an excellent and impartial Chairman. This Report sets out in detail the work which they completed during the period 7 April 1993 to 31 December, 1994 and I hope that it will serve as a useful reference document for interested persons and bodies.

In relation to the work and powers of the current Committee there are a number of points which I would like to make. It is widely accepted that the terms of reference of the former Committee were inadequate and would have been the subject of detailed comment in their first Annual Report. However, the terms of reference were substantially amended on 1 March of this year. The Committee now has powers to discuss and draft proposals for legislative change in the areas of justice, law reform and defence. The Committee also has powers to require Ministers, Ministers of State and appointees to high office in the State to attend meetings of the Select Committee to discuss matters falling within its remit. I and my colleagues intend to use these powers to the fullest possible extent in order to ensure that the business of the Departments and Agencies falling within our remit is more open and transparent and Ministers and senior officials’ are more accountable to Dáil Éireann.

The revised terms of reference have also empowered the Committee to review on a regular basis the Official Secrets Acts and all other statutory provisions which restrict access to information and to report to Dáil Éireann with recommendations to bring them into line with the best international standards of public information provision. This is a major task and one of very great importance having regard to the climate of secrecy which pervades much of our public administration. Preparatory work is currently under way and the review will commence in the Autumn. I believe that the Committee’s work in this area, together with the promised Freedom of Information Bill, which is expected before the Committee later this year, will eventually ensure nothing less than a revolution in public access to official information and will significantly alter the cuture of the Irish public service.

* With the exception of the members of the sub-Committee of Enquiry appointed to consider matters referred to the Select Committee by order of Dáil Éireann on 6th December, 1994, who continued as members of the sub-Committee until they had discharged the functions assigned to it by order of Dáil Éireann.

I also wish to take this opportunity to address an important aspect of the Report of the sub-Committee of the Select Committee on Legislation and Security. The Report’s conclusions made reference to the legal and constitutional difficulties which precluded it from making findings of fact in relation to the evidence given before it. The advice of the legal advisor, Mr Gerard Durcan, S.C., in this regard was included at Appendices 6 and 7 of that Report. Legal and administrative changes are now necessary to ensure that Oireachtas committees can properly discharge their currrent functions and conduct future enquiries in the appropriate way. It is of the utmost importance that the recommendations of the legal advisor (Appendix 7 of the Report of the sub-Committee) as regards Oireachtas Committees are acted upon and that the legislation to provide Oireachtas Committees with the power to send for persons, papers and records and for appropriate legal protection for witnesses is brought forward without delay. Without the necessary legal changes and accompanying detailed administrative guidelines and procedures, Oireachtas Committees will not be able to fulfill their potential or undertake serious investigative work. I hope when this Committee presents its next Annual Report that I shall be able to report progress on all of these vital issues.

Finally, I wish to express my thanks to my colleagues on the Select Committee for the privilege they have conferred on me by electing me as Chairman. I look forward to working with them in the coming year and to progressing the tasks with which we have been entrusted by Dáil Éireann.

___________________

Charles Flanagan, T.D.,

Chairman.

20 July 1995

1

Introduction

2.1The Select Committee on Legislation and Security was established as part of the Oireachtas reforms proposed under the Fianna Fáil and Labour Programme for a Partnership Government 1993-1997. These reforms included the expansion of the Oireachtas Committee system to ensure that the Dáil would have the opportunity to carry out a detailed examination of all legislative and expenditure proposals. There are four other similar committees¹ which consider the committee stages (third stages i.e. the detailed section by section examination) of bills, annual proposals for expenditure by Government Departments (known as Estimates) and reports referred to them by the Dáil.

2.2The Dáil formally appointed the Select Committee on 7 April 1993.² There are thirty Members,³ all Deputies, nominated as follows according to party strength in the Dáil:

In common with the other Select Committees the Chairman is a member of one of the Government Parties and there are two unelected convenors, who act as whips, one Government and one Opposition. Mr Dan Wallace, T.D. (Fianna Fáil) was elected Chairman at the first meeting of the Select Committee on 5 May 1993. The convenors appointed were Deputy Ivor Callely (Fianna Fáil) and Deputy John Browne (Fine Gael) with the function of ensuring the availability of members or substitutes for meetings and for any votes called at meetings.

¹ The other Select Committees are Enterprise and Economic Strategy, Social Affairs, Finance and General Affairs and Foreign Affairs. (The latter is joined with a Select Committee of the Seanad and is generally known as the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs).

² The Order of the Dáil appointing the Select Committee is contained in Appendix 2.

³ For a full list of Members see Appendix 1.

committee rooms in Kildare House, Kildare Street or in the Dáil or Seanad Chambers, when available. Meetings on bills and estimates were held in public session and televised in-house and recorded for T.V. broadcasting unless otherwise decided. RTE has broadcast extracts from Select Committee meetings in its Oireachtas Report and In Committee programmes. Extracts have also been broadcast on radio. Verbatim reports of meetings held in public session are published and may be purchased from the Government Publications Sale Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin, 2.

2

Work Carried out by the Select Committee⁴

1993

3.1In 1993 the Select Committee met on 17 occasions. The Committee Stages of the following bills were completed:

—Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill, 1993

—Criminal Procedure Bill, 1993

Six meetings were held to discuss the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill, 1993 and two meetings were held to discuss the Criminal Procedure Bill, 1993. Private briefing sessions were held between the officials of the relevant Departments and members of the Select Committee before considering the bills. Three meetings were held to discuss Estimates for the Government Departments under the Select Committee’s remit. Two meetings were held to discuss four Supplementary Estimates⁵ for two Departments.

1994

3.2In 1994 the Select Committee met on 18 occasions up to 12 October. The Committee Stages of the following bills were completed:

—Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Bill, 1994

—Criminal Justice (No. 3) Bill, 1994

—Extradition (Amendment) Bill, 1994

—Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1994

—Family Law Bill, 1994

—Maintenance Bill, 1994

There were two meetings on the Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Bill, 1994; three meetings on the Criminal Justice (No.3) Bill, 1994; one meeting on the Extradition (Amendment) Bill, 1994; two meetings on the Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1994; two meetings on the Family Law Bill, 1994 and one meeting on the Maintenance Bill, 1994. In addition, three meetings were held on to discuss Estimates for the Government Departments under the remit of the Select Committee. The Select Committee also held two meetings on the committee stage of the Refugee Bill, 1994, but have not concluded their deliberations. One meeting was held pursuant to an Order of Dáil Éireann of 6 December, 1994, which obliged the Select Committee to meet on Wednesday, 7 December, 1994 and to question members on the circumstances surrounding the appointment of the President of the High Court and subsequent events in November, 1994 (see Order of Dáil - Appendix 2).

⁴ See Appendix 3 for full details of all meetings held in 1993 and 1994.

⁵ Supplementary Estimates arise on occasion when a Government Department may require to ask the Dáil during the year for monies additional to that provided in the Estimates as originally expended.

Order of Dáil Éireann of 6 December, 1994

3.3On Tuesday 6, December, 1994, Dáil Éireann ordered the Select Committee to meet on Wednesday, 7 December, 1994 and to question all persons it deemed appropriate on the circumstance surrounding the five matters, enumerated at (a) to (e) of the Order of 6 December. The Select Committee met at 10.30 a.m. on 7th December, 1994 in the Dáil Chamber and, following an attempt to commence questioning of witnesses in compliance with the Order of the Dáil, the Committee reported that it was unable to proceed in the absence of legislation to provide for absolute privilege for witnesses appearing before it (See Interim Report of 7 December, 1994 — Appendix 4). In response to the Report of the Select Committee, the Select Committee on Legislation and Security of Dáil Éireann (Privilege and Immunity) Bill, 1994 was introduced and subsequently enacted on 14 December, 1994.

Establishment of a Sub-Committee of the Select Committee

3.4The Dáil ordered on 15th December, 1994 that a sub-Committee of the Select Committee consisting of the Chairman and 12 other members of that Committee by its appointed to consider the matters originally referred to the Select Committee by its order of 6th December, 1994 and to report thereon directly to Dáil Éireann not later than 24th January, 1995. The Select Committee met at 8 p.m. on 15th December, 1994 and appointed a sub-Committee of thirteen members in accordance with the orders of the Dáil (see Appendix 4). Its Orders of Reference are contained in Appendix 2. The sub-Committee met on four occasions during 1994.