Former Rehab boss Kerins seeks access to minutes of private 2014 PAC meetings

Angela Kerins is seeking access to the minutes of private Public Accounts Committee meetings in 2014 as part of her claim of damages against the Oireachtas.  Picture: Laura Hutton/Photocall Ireland

Former Rehab boss Angela Kerins is seeking access to the minutes of private Public Accounts Committee meetings in 2014 as part of her claim of damages against the Oireachtas, TDs were told this week.

The second part of her action against the Oireachtas relating to damages is due back before the courts in the new year.

At a briefing for committee chairpersons, the Oireachtas legal advisor Melissa English informed them that the State is also “on the hook” for very substantial costs arising out of Ms Kerins' Supreme Court victory last year.

It is estimated the Oireachtas is facing a bill in excess of €1 million before any award of damages is considered.

The Supreme Court found that the PAC had “acted unlawfully” in its treatment of Ms Kerins when she appeared before two hearings of the committee.

The Court stressed the Oireachtas itself can act to limit the need or potential for court intervention in any similar case.

As a result the Oireachtas has produced a suite of sweeping reforms about how committees are to be run, which several committee chairs have blasted as a way of “nobbling” and “limiting” their independence.

A ‘Confidential’ document of the Working Group on Parliamentary Privilege and Citizens’ Rights including the proposals for reform, has been obtained by the Irish Examiner.

It proposes 25 separate recommendations which some committee chairs have said could “nobble” the power and independence of the committees.

The recommendations made cover a range of issues including the treatment of witnesses, the role of the chairman, how meetings with witness must stick to the format outlined in written invitations, training for TDs and how to stop committees from straying beyond their remit.

It is proposed that a new “internal oversight mechanism via a Committee on Remit Oversight should be established to consider if Committees are acting in breach of their remit. This should also allow for a process to deal with the issue of overlapping remits of Committees.”