THE GOVERNMENT parties are increasing efforts to avoid a No vote in the referendum giving increased powers to Oireachtas committees in the face of growing opposition to the proposed constitutional change.
Minister of State at the Department of Finance Brian Hayes said Fine Gael activists, armed with detailed briefing material on the amendment, would strongly promote a Yes vote during canvassing ahead of the presidential election.
The declining support for the amendment on Oireachtas inquiries comes as a further blow to the Government parties following a disappointing presidential campaign.
Opinion polls indicate that Fine Gael candidate Gay Mitchell will do badly in the election, while Labour’s Michael D Higgins has been eclipsed in recent polls by Independent hopeful Seán Gallagher.
Mr Hayes claimed objections to the Oireachtas inquiries amendment were being voiced by vested interests: “The opposition to it is being led by lawyers and I think the public can see through that. They are a substantial vested interest in this instance: the elite of the lawyer class are telling us why we should vote No.”
The proposed change in the Constitution will allow Oireachtas committees to carry out inquiries into issues of general public importance, a role severely curtailed in the wake of the adverse High Court judgment on Abbeylara
The so-called “Abbeylara amendment” would allow the Oireachtas to carry out inquiries into matters of public importance and to make findings of fact about a person’s conduct. Currently, this is not possible, due to a court judgment relating to an Oireachtas inquiry into the shooting of John Carthy in Abbeylara in 2000.
Mr Hayes was critical of the timing of the unprecedented intervention of eight former attorneys general, after it emerged yesterday they were opposing both referendums to be voted on this Thursday. A referendum to reduce the constitutional bar on reducing judges’ pay will also be held, alongside the presidential election.
“The eight ex-attorneys general also left it very late: why didn’t they contribute when the Government published a consultation paper in September? The heads of the Bill were circulated in July.”
Independent TDs who “hardly spoke in the Dáil when the issue was being debated” had also “found their voice very late in the day on the No side”, Mr Hayes added. He stressed the so-called amendment was a “key issue of reform” for both Government parties.
Labour Senator Ivana Bacik challenged the concerns of lawyers who have called for a No vote.
“Despite being a member of the legal profession, I am strongly supporting the referendum because it will give the Oireachtas more power to hold the Government to account; and will shift some power away from the courts and back to the elected representatives,” she said.
“What the amendment will do is strengthen and enhance the investigative powers of our elected representatives in parliament and enable them to hold the Government to account – that is an important feature of any democratic parliament and would undoubtedly strengthen our democracy, whatever the legal profession may say.”
A Labour spokesman said information about the referendum was being distributed to the party’s public representatives across the State, “for use in their local media”.
