THE PROPOSED Abbeylara amendment to the Constitution, which would give extra powers to Oireachtas committees, was “pointless and useless”, former Fianna Fáil minister Mary O’Rourke has said.
Ms O’Rourke told a news conference of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties in Dublin yesterday that committees had “a sort of an intoxicating effect” on TDs and Senators.
“They see in them a chance to shine, to be the star of their very own detective story,” she said. “My main foreboding is the nature of the beast who will be on the committee.”
Ms O’Rourke said she remained “very sceptical” about the amendment, which is subject to a referendum on Thursday, the same day as the presidential election and a constitutional referendum on judicial salaries.
However, Labour Senator Ivana Bacik said elsewhere that the 30th amendment to the Constitution would “greatly enhance the investigative powers of the Oireachtas and will provide a stronger mechanism for holding the Government to account”.
“Oireachtas committees have effectively been neutered by the Supreme Court Abbeylara judgment,” Ms Bacik added. “This amendment would help to ensure the appropriate balance of powers between legislature and executive necessary for a functioning democracy.”
She told the Political Studies Association yesterday: “It is clear that the courts can still review the way in which the Oireachtas strikes the balance between the rights of persons and the public interest.
“The amendment does not rule out recourse to the courts.”
Opposing the amendment, Independent TD Catherine Murphy raised issues about the possible abuse of powers.
“I’m very concerned that the way the Government has crafted the amendment is too open to abuse [and] lacks adequate restraint to limit the control of vested interests.
“Although I’m not saying the current Government will necessarily overstep the mark, I am concerned that if we adopt this measure we’ll depend on them not to decide to do so, as they will have the power.
“In essence, what I’m saying is that the intentions of this Government are irrelevant, we must instead look at what this proposal will enable it and subsequent governments to do.”
Ms Murphy was speaking alongside lawyers and other politicians at the launch of a campaign for a No vote by the council for civil liberties.
Independent Senator Rónán Mullen, said at the same event: “It is too easy for the Government to present this in a crass, populist way as a mechanism for ensuring that ‘baddies’ are brought to book.
“The problem with sweeping powers of this kind, with such a permissive referendum proposal,” Mr Mullen added, “is that some time in the future, the failure to guarantee rights of due process to persons will lead to the condemnation and the humiliation and the traducing, not of people we all despise already but of relatively powerless, relatively anonymous people”.
Prof Gerry Whyte of Trinity College Dublin said he had no difficulty with parliamentary inquiries, but this amendment “will prevent people having access to the courts in order to review decisions of parliamentary inquiries where those decisions may be in breach of fair procedures”.