Results 1-20 of 1,050,763 for in 'Dáil debates' OR (speaker:Michael McDowell OR speaker:Michael Collins OR speaker:Pearse Doherty OR speaker:Paul McAuliffe OR speaker:Matt Shanahan OR speaker:Norma Foley) in 'Committee meetings'
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: I welcome the Minister of State and her officials. I will deal with the easy point first. The Minister of State said she chaired a meeting last week of the interdepartmental committee on EU engagement. Of 46 cases, 15 are awaiting closure. That means 31 of those cases are not awaiting closure. In respect of those, there seems to be no reason why we should not be briefed on each of them...
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: On that front, I ask about a briefing on all of them but particularly we would be interested in the cases against Ireland that are not yet awaiting closure and are still effectively open, and the financial implications. Are fines being imposed? Are they being threatened? Where are we on that kind of issue? I think we are entitled to a table setting that out. The second point is that,...
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: There would be very little to be learned from that. However, at least it would be clear, if that approach is being taken, how the Department proposes to address the issue. The second thing is that if we simply say – this is the point – that the initial draft instructions for the regulations are all that this committee should see, first, are we to be told that a later...
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: That is bizarre. If that is the position the Office of the Attorney General wants us to accept, we might as well wind up the committee.
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: Sorry, can I just say-----
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: I am not saying that we have to see all the correspondence or that the OPC said this is lawful, unlawful or disproportionate. I am not asking for any of that information. I am simply saying, and I ask the Minister of State to deal with this issue, that if it is lawful for a Minister-----
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: -----to deal with a third-party institution-----
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: Sorry, I thought the Minister of State was finished.
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: That depends. I will give an example. If the OPC or the Attorney General's office said that the proposed fine in regulation 3 was grossly excessive or, on the other hand, was not sufficiently punitive to comply with the requirement of dissuasive penalties under EU law, I would have no problem with the dialogue between them being a matter of privilege. If, in the end, the Department says...
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: With respect, you are not dealing with the third question.
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: No, no. I asked you a plain, simple question.
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: No, no. I am asking you a simple, plain question. If it is alright for a Minister to show a draft statutory instrument to an interested sectoral body, how is it wrong for him or her to show it to us in this committee?
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: I appreciate that-----
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: There are two points to consider. There is the question of principle. If a Minister or a Department, before signing a document to make a regulation, can, or, in certain circumstances, is required to, consult a third party like An Taisce, that document cannot be the subject of such legal professional privilege that it cannot be shown to this committee. The Minister of State either accepts...
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: If we take An Taisce, which, as a prescribed body, has to be consulted on some issues-----
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: I have asked a simple question of principle. I am being told it cannot be answered because the Minister of State has not looked at practical examples. In setting out the Attorney Genera's advice, she stated the following: Unless and until a Minister makes the regulation, every iteration of the draft regulation, stamped or unstamped, is subject to legal professional privilege and cannot be...
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: However, in the meantime, we will see nothing until it is law.
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: We are talking about similar-----
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: I know that, but Senator Ward is no more important than Senator O’Reilly, me or any other Senator.
- Committee on Scrutiny of Draft EU-related Statutory Instruments: Engagement with Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs (17 Jul 2024)
Michael McDowell: This is a Seanad committee and we are entitled to deal with our business without regard to what is happening in the Seanad chamber.