Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1998 > Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine > Annual Report of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and Marine, 1997-1998

TITHE AN OIREACHTAIS

TUARASCÁIL BHLIANTÚIL

ón

gComhchoiste um Thalmhaíocht, Bia agus an Mhuir

Obair an Chomhchoiste

ANNUAL REPORT

of the

Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine

Work of the Joint Committee

4 Dec. 1997 — 4 Dec. 1998

Table of Contents

1. Content and Format of Report

This report has been prepared pursuant to paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Standing Order 79A, Dáil Éireann and paragraphs 3, 4, 5 and 6 of Standing Order 63, Seanad Éireann which provides for Joint Committee reports and work programmes as follows—

The Committee approved the annual report at its meeting of 16 January 1998.

2. Functions and Powers of the Joint Committee

The Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine was established by Order of Dáil Éireann of 13th November, 1997 and Order of Seanad Éireann of 19th November, 1997 as part of a programme of Oireachtas reform involving the refining of the Committee system to enable more detailed examination of Government Departments including—

The Orders of Reference of the Joint Committee were modified by further Orders of Dáil Éireann of 28th April, 1998 (new subparagraph (2)(a)(iv) added) and Seanad Éireann of 30th April, 1998 (new subparagraph (2)(a)(iv) added) and the Orders of Reference of the Joint Committee, as so modified, are set out at Appendix 1.

3. Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Convenors and Membership

Deputy John Ellis was elected as Chairman of the Joint Committee on 4 December, 1997. Deputy Harry Blaney was elected as Vice-Chairman of the Joint Committee on 9 December, 1997. The Chairman of the Joint Committee is also Chairman of the Dáil Select Committee.

Deputies John Brady and P.J. Sheehan are the Convenors of the Committee whose function it is to ensure the availability and attendance of Members or their substitutes for meetings of the Committee and, in particular, to ensure Members’ availability for divisions.

Only one change was made to the membership of the Committee during the course of the year under review. On 18 June 1998 Deputy Michael Creed was appointed to the Committee to fill the vacancy left by the tragic and untimely death of our esteemed colleague Deputy Hugh Coveney.

The Members of the Joint Committee are set out at Appendix 2.

4. Meetings, Attendance and Recording

Meetings of the Joint Committee took place in the Committee rooms in Kildare House or in the Seanad Chamber. Meetings were in public unless otherwise ordered by the Joint Committee.

Televised coverage of public meetings of the Joint Committee was broadcast live within the Leinster House complex and was available for subsequent public broadcasting.

Verbatim written reports of public meetings of the Select Committee in relation to Bills and Estimates for the Public Services were published and may be purchased from the Government Publications Sales Office, Sun Alliance House, Molesworth Street, Dublin 2.

Copies of other reports published by the Joint Committee may be obtained from the Clerk, Joint Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Kildare House, Kildare Street, Dublin 2. A list of these reports is set out at Section 8.

5. Number and Duration of Meetings

The Joint Committee met on 20 occasions in the year under report. The number of hours discussion involved in these meetings was in excess of 22 hours. The date and subject matter of each meeting is set out at Appendix 3.

The Dáil Select Committee met on 7 occasions in the year under report and the number of hours discussion involved in these meetings was in excess of 6 hours. The date and subject matter of each meeting is set out at Appendix 4.

Records of attendance by Members of the Joint Committee and their duly nominated substitutes at meetings of the Joint Committee are set out at Appendix 5.

Records of attendance by Members of the Dáil Select Committee and their duly nominated substitutes at meetings of the Dáil Select Committee are set out at Appendix 6.

Minutes of proceedings of the Joint Committee meeting in public session are attached at Appendix 7.

6. Work of the Committee

6.1Joint Committee

On the 21 occasions the Committee met it dealt, inter alia, with the following matters:

6.2Dáil Select Committee

On the 9 occasions the Committee met it dealt with the following matters:

7. Groups and Individuals attending before Committee

In the year under report the Joint Committee met with the following:

8. Joint Committee Reports

During the year under report the Joint Committee published the following reports:

9. Work in Progress

(a)Reports on visits of delegations from the Joint Committee to Argentina and Rome

(b)Tendering for consultancy to assist the Joint Committee in the preparation of a report on The Future Direction of Irish Agriculture. The Joint Committee intends to report Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann with appropriate recommendations.

A copy of the Joint Committees work programme for 1999 is at Appendix 8.

10. Travel by the Joint Committee

The Joint Committee undertook three visits during the course of the year, as follows:

(i)Rome, 6-7 May 1998: Attendance by the Deputy John Ellis (Chairman), accompanied by the Clerk to the Committee, at a meeting of the chairpersons of agricultural committees of the European Union.

(ii)Argentina, 22 October - 2 November, 1998 Delegation from the Joint Committee on a fact finding visit in connection with agricultural issues. The delegation was composed of Deputies John Ellis (Chairman), John Brady, Paul Connaughton and Willie Penrose accompanied by the Clerk to the Committee.

(iii)Rome, 28 November - 1 December, 1998: Delegation from the Joint Committee attended an Inter-Parliamentary Conference organised by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations entitled “Attaining the World Food Summit’s Objectives through a Sustainable Development Policy”. The delegation was composed of Deputies John Ellis (Chairman), John Browne (FF), Paul Connaughton and Senator Francis O’Brien, accompanied by the Clerk to the Committee.

11. Function and Powers

During the year under report the Orders of Reference of the Joint Committee were modified to enable it to consider and report on the annual reports and/or annual reports and accounts of bodies under the aegis of the Department of Agriculture and Food and the Department of Marine and Natural Resources. This was done by Orders of Dáil Éireann of 28th April, 1998 (new subparagraph (2)(a)(iv) added) and Seanad Éireann of 30th April, 1998 (new subparagraph (1)(a)(iv) added).

The Committee is happy with its present procedures and role but considers its general staff resources to be wholly inadequate. The Committee considers that each Committee should have a full-time Clerk and appropriate support staff. This is not the position at present due to the unnecessarily restrictive policy on staffing in the Houses of the Oireachtas. One of the key criterion for an effective committee system is adequate resourcing and staff resources in particular must be sufficient to permit all Committees, as agents of both Houses, to efficiently and effectively discharge their obligations. The staffing situation should therefore be corrected as an imperative.

__________________________

John Ellis, T.D.

Chairman of the Joint Committee

December 1998