Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 2000 > Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights > Annual Report of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, 2000

DÁIL ÉIREANN

TUARASCÁIL

ón gComhchoiste um Dhlí agus Ceart, Comhionnanas, Cosaint agus Cearta na mBan don bhliain dar críoch 31 Nollaig, 2000

REPORT

of the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights for the year ending 31 December, 2000

REPORT

of the

Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights for the year ending 31 December, 2000

Table of Contents

Report

Introduction

1.Paragraphs (3) to (6) of Standing Order 79A of the Standing Orders relative to Public Business of Dáil Éireann and Standing Order 63 of the Standing Orders relative to Public business of Seanad Éireann require that the Joint Committee report from time to time in relation to

•a review of the procedure and role of the Committee

•its annual work programme

•the laying minutes of proceedings and

•making an annual report

2.This report, covering the period 1 January, 2000 to 31 December, 2000, is made in discharge of those requirements.

Members serving on the Joint Committee in the course of the year

3.The membership of the Joint Committee as of 12 December, 2000, was as follows:

Members of Dáil Éireann:

Deputies Seán Ardagh, Monica Barnes (Vice-Chairman), Beverley Cooper-Flynn, Mary Coughlan, Michael Finucane, Frances Fitzgerald, Charles Flanagan, Marian McGennis¹ John McGuinness, Alan Shatter, Eddie Wade and G.V. Wright.

Members of Seanad Éireann:

Senators Eddie Bohan, John Connor, Tony Kitt, Denis O’Donovan and Kathleen O’Meara.

Sub-Committee on Crime and Punishment

4.A Sub-Committee on Crime and Punishment was established by order of the Joint Committee of 21 January, 1998. The membership of the Sub-Committee as of 1 January, 1999, was as follows:

Deputies Beverley Cooper-Flynn, Mary Hanafin, Jim Higgins (Chairman), John J. McGuinness, Liz McManus and Pat Upton and Senators Eddie Bohan, John Connor and Tony Kett.

Sub-Committee on Women’s Rights

5.A Sub-Committee on Women’s Rights was established by order of the Joint Committee of 1 July, 1998, the following members being appointed to serve thereon:

Deputies Seán Ardagh, Monica Barnes (Chairman), Beverley Cooper-Flynn, Frances Fitzgerald, Mary Hanafin, Liz McManus and Eoin Ryan and Senators Eddie Bohan and Kathleen O’Meara.

Meetings of the Joint Committee and Various Subordinate Bodies

6. Numbers of meetings of each are as follows:

Orders of Reference of the Joint Committee

7. There were no amendments made to the Orders of Reference of the Committee in 2000.

Legislation Considered [Orders of Reference, Paragraph (1)(a)(i)]

Bills referred to the Committee

8.The Select Committee completed consideration of Third Stage of the following Bills during 2000:

•Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Bill, 1999

•Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention Against Torture) Bill, 1998

• Human Rights Commission Bill, 1999

•Criminal Justice (Safety of United Nations Workers) Bill, 1999 [Seanad]

•Intoxicating Liquor Bill, 2000 [Seanad]*

•Sex Offenders Bill, 2000

•Irish Nationality and Citizenship Bill, 1999 [Seanad]

** As outlined in paragraph xx, the Committee has also been involved in public consultations regarding the details of the Children Bill, 1999

9.Third Stage of each of the following Bills is awaiting consideration by the Select Committee as of 31 December, 1999:

•Children Bill, 1996 (referred to Committee on 3 July, 1998)

•Criminal Justice (United Nations Convention Against Torture) Bill, 1998 [Seanad] (referred to Committee on 7 October, 1999)

•Illegal Immigrants (Trafficking) Bill, 1999 (referred to Committee on 9 December, 1999)

•Solicitors (Amendment) Bill, 1998 [Seanad] (referred to Committee on 1 June, 1999).

Estimates for Public Services considered

10.In the course of the period under review, the Select Committee considered and reported to the Dáil on grants for public services for the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and related services and the Department of Defence and the Defence Forces totalling. The particular services involved are as follows:

Estimates for Public Services for the year ending 31 December, 1999 considered:

Reports made

11.The Committee published reports during the period under review as follows:

(1)The sub-Committee on Crime and Punishment published a Report entitled - xx

(2)Interim report of the Joint Committee on

(3)Report of the Joint Committee on Proposals for Legislation by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for a Human Rights Commission Bill (17 June, 1999)

(4)Report of the Joint Committee on Council Regulation (EC) on Jurisdiction and the Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters (COM (1999) 348 final) (24 November, 1999)

Other Matters Considered in Public Session

12.The Joint Committee or its sub-Committees heard evidence in public on a number of other issues in the course of the period under review., viz.:

(e)1974 Dublin and Monaghan Bombings (Joint Committee, 25 November, 1999)

(f)Childcare (Joint Committee, 11th February 1999; Sub-Committee on Women’s Rights, 11 November, 1999)

(g)Equal Status Bill, 1999 (Joint Committee, 17 & 24 June, 1999)

(h)Immigration Bill, 1999 (Joint Committee, 3 March, 1999)

(i)Status of women in golf clubs (Sub-Committee on Women’s Rights, 11 February, 1999)

(j)Strategy Statement of the department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Joint Committee, 15 July, 1999)

(k)Violence against Women (Sub-Committee on Women’s Rights, 21 July, 1999 & 9 December, 1999)

Work programme for 2000

13.The Joint Committee adopted a work programme for its Sub-Committees as set out in Appendix 4 at a meeting held on 3 February, 2000. The Joint Committee deferred a decision in relation to its work programme until the position in relation to the Hamilton inquiry became clearer.

Procedure and role of the Committee

General

14.The role of the Joint Committee continued to develop in the course of 1999 and is likely to continue to do so in 2000.

15.Proposals for legislation for a Human Rights Commission were referred to and reported on by the Joint Committee in the course of the year. The Joint Committee considers such referrals to be a welcome development, serving as they do to enable legislation to be considered over a greater time and in greater detail.

16.In this instance and also in the case of a number of Bills, the Joint Committee received written submissions from interest groups and met with a number of them to explore the issues involved in greater detail. This clearly deepens and strengthens parliamentary democracy. The Joint Committee would hope to increase the level of such dialogue in 2000.

17.The Joint Committee also had referred to it (and reported on) a draft European Council Regulation in 1999. Two agreements between Ireland and the Russian Federation were referred to the Joint Committee in the latter part of the year and are to be considered by the Joint Committee in the first quarter of 2000. Similar business was also referred to other committees in the course of the year. Such referrals are likely to become more frequent.

18.The Select Committee currently has three Bills referred to it which it will be expected to consider in 2000. A further 12 Bills which fall within the Committee’s remit are before the Dáil or are expected to be published before the Easter Recess and are therefore likely to be referred to the Committee in the course of the year.

19.The Government has announced that it will propose that the report of the Hamilton inquiry into the 1974 Dublin Monaghan Bombings be referred to the Joint Committee and that it envisages PAC-type hearings in this regard. Present indications are that Mr. Hamilton will complete his work in late June.

20.The business referred to the Committee by the Houses will therefore increase in volume, variety and complexity in 2000. In addition, major policy issues such as the reorganisation of the Defence Forces and policy and service delivery in relation to asylum seekers and refugees are likely to place heavy demands on the time of the Committee in 2000.

Women’s Rights

21.As can be seen from the Work Programme for the Sub-Committee on Women’s Rights (see Appendix 3), there are a significant number of major issues in this area which require attention.

22.The Sub-Committee will find itself in competition for already inadequate resources shared by it with the Select Committee, the Joint Committee and its Sub-Committee on Crime and Punishment in attempting to give more than token consideration to these issues.

23.In its report for the period to 31 December, 1998, the Joint Committee drew attention to a resolution passed by the Conference of Parliamentary Committees responsible for equal opportunities for women and men in the Member States of the European Union and in the European Parliament (CCEO) which called on all national parliaments in the EU to “instal independent Committees for women’s rights and equal opportunities …..”.

24.In its report, the Committee drew attention to a number of reasons why this would be appropriate in the Irish parliamentary context and recommend that a separate Committee on Women’s Rights be established.

25.The Joint Committee restated its position in the matter in a report made to the Dáil and Seanad Committees on Procedure and Privileges on the Procedures and Role of the Joint Committee dated 20^th May, 1999, which addressed the desirability of changing the title of the Committee to better reflect the Committee’s actual remit.

26.The Committee remains of the view that a Committee on Women’s Rights should be established and its own orders of reference amended accordingly.

Resources

27.The Select Committee, the Joint Committee and its two Sub-Committees have available to them the full-time services of one Committee Clerk and one Clerical Officer.

28.Having regard to the level of activity of the Committees and Sub-Committees in 1999 and the business likely to come before them in 2000, it is abundantly clear that staffing and resources generally(including accommodation) are wholly inadequate.

29.The Joint Committee recognises that such difficulties are experienced to a greater or lesser degree by other Committees.

30.The Joint Committee considers it to be a self-evident fact that committees will play an increasingly prominent part in the work of parliament and is of the opinion that questions of resourcing should long since have been properly addressed.

31.As the Joint Committee sees matters, this would most likely involve staff being assigned on a full-time basis to individual committees (or sub-committees) where the level of activity warrants it, with additional staff being made available to each on the basis of the relative demands being placed upon them as required. A prerequisite for this approach would be the establishment of linkages between various types of Committee activity or output and the resources necessary to undertake such activities or achieve such outputs. Such linkages appear to the Committee to be desirable in any event.

32.The Joint Committee would welcome an initiative on the part of the Office to identify staffing and other needs of Committees generally which are not being met or which could be met more efficiently and effectively than is currently the case.

33.The Joint Committee is strongly of the view that the systems, facilities and resources to enable committees to achieve their full potential are not in place. The Committee intends to pursue these wider issues in the coming months.

3 February, 2000

(Signed) Sean Ardagh, T.D.,

Chairman

December, 2000

Appendices

Appendix 1: Orders of Reference of the Joint Committee

Order of Dáil Éireann of 13 November, 1997, as amended by Dáil Éireann on 28 April, 1998, and 2 July, 1999 (effective from 6 July,1999):—

(1) (a)That a Select Committee, which shall be called the Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights, consisting of 14 members of Dáil Éireann (of whom 4 shall constitute a quorum), be appointed to consider such—

(i)Bills the statute law in respect of which is dealt with by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department of Defence, and

(ii)Estimates for Public Services within the aegis of those Departments,

as shall be referred to it by Dáil Éireann from time to time.

(b)For the purpose of its consideration of Bills under paragraph (1)(a)(i), the Select Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 78A(1), (2) and (3).

(c)For the avoidance of doubt, by virtue of their ex officio membership of the Select Committee in accordance with Standing Order 84(1), the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Minister for Defence (or a Minister or Minister of State nominated in their stead) shall be entitled to vote.

(2) (a)The Select Committee shall be joined with a Select Committee to be appointed by Seanad Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights to consider—

(i)such public affairs administered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Department of Defence as it may select, including bodies under the aegis of those Departments in respect of Government policy,

(ii)such matters of policy for which the Ministers in charge of those Departments are officially responsible as it may select,

(iii)the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Ministers in charge of those Departments pursuant to section 5(2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and shall be authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act,

(iv)²such Annual Reports or Annual Reports and Accounts, required by law and laid before either or both Houses of the Oireachtas, of bodies under the aegis of the Department(s) specified in paragraph 2(a)(i), and the overall operational results, statements of strategy and corporate plans of these bodies, as it may select.

Provided that the Joint Committee shall not, at any time, consider any matter relating to such a body which is, which has been, or which is, at that time, proposed to be considered by the Committee of Public Accounts pursuant to the Orders of Reference of that Committee and/or the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993.

Provided further that the Joint Committee shall refrain from inquiring into in public session, or publishing confidential information regarding, any such matter if so requested either by the body or by the Minister in charge of that Department; and

(v)such matters relating to women’s rights generally, as it may select, and in this regard the Joint Committee shall be free to consider areas relating to any Government Department, and

(vi)such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas,

and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas.

(b)The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be 5, of whom at least 1 shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and 1 a member of Seanad Éireann.

(c)The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 78A(1) to (9) inclusive.

(3)The Chairman of the Joint Committee, who shall be a member of Dáil Éireann, shall also be Chairman of the Select Committee.

Order of Seanad Éireann of 19 November, 1997, as amended by Seanad Éireann on 30 April, 1998, and 6 July, 1999:—

(1) (a)That a Select Committee consisting of 5 members of Seanad Éireann shall be appointed to be joined with a Select Committee of Dáil Éireann to form the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women’s Rights to consider—

(i)such public affairs administered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law-Reform and the Department of Defence as it may select, including bodies under the aegis of those Departments in respect of Government policy,

(ii)such matters of policy for which the Ministers in charge of those Departments are officially responsible as it may select,

(iii)the strategy statement laid before each House of the Oireachtas by the Ministers in charge of those Departments pursuant to section 5(2) of the Public Service Management Act, 1997, and shall be authorised for the purposes of section 10 of that Act,

(iv)³such Annual Reports or Annual Reports and Accounts, required by law and laid before either or both Houses of the Oireachtas, of bodies under the aegis of the Department(s) specified in paragraph 2(a)(i), and the overall operational results, statements of strategy and corporate plans of these bodies, as it may select.

Provided that the Joint Committee shall not, at any time, consider any matter relating to such a body which is, which has been, or which is, at that time, proposed to be considered by the Committee of Public Accounts pursuant to the Orders of Reference of that Committee and/or the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act, 1993.

Provided further that the Joint Committee shall refrain from inquiring into in public session, or publishing confidential information regarding, any such matter if so requested either by the body or by the Minister in charge of that Department; and

(v)such matters relating to women’s rights generally, as it may select, and in this regard the Joint Committee shall be free to consider areas relating to any Government Department, and

(vi)such other matters as may be jointly referred to it from time to time by both Houses of the Oireachtas,

and shall report thereon to both Houses of the Oireachtas,

(b)The quorum of the Joint Committee shall be 5, of whom at least 1 shall be a member of Dáil Éireann and 1 a member of Seanad Éireann.

(c)The Joint Committee shall have the powers defined in Standing Order 62A(1) to (9) inclusive.

(2)The Chairman of the Joint Committee shall be a member of Dáil Éireann. evidence, to travel and to engage consultants shall, in each case, be subject to the approval of the main committee; and

(f)before commencing its work, the sub-Committee shall prepare a work programme which shall be brought before the main Committee for approval.

¹

* The Committee heard oral submissions in advance from the representatives of five different groups before taking the Bill substantively

² Paragraph inserted by order of the Dáil of 28 April, 1998.

³ Paragraph inserted by order of the Seanad of 30 April, 1998