Oireachtas powers - Investigations should be transparent

The referendum to provide extensive powers for the Oireachtas to investigate and make findings against individuals was rejected by the electorate last year.

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin therefore announced the introduction of legislation to allow the Oireachtas to carry out inquiries that would allow the views of more people to be heard and considered.

The minister said the laws would provide for five different types of inquiries, within the parameters of the Constitution. The Supreme Court has already ruled that an Oireachtas inquiry could not make findings of culpability against an individual who was not a member of Oireachtas, or a judge in the case of impeachment.

The proposed legislation sets out different types of inquiry to deal with the impeachment of judges, or handling the misconduct of Oireachtas members. Such issues where highlighted in relation to former Circuit Court Judge Brian Curtin, and former Senator Ivor Callely. Another type of inquiry would allow a committee to “inquire, record and report” on matters where findings of fact are uncontested. The minister emphasised that careful balance must be ensured, and this is set out in the legislation.

In order to protect against bias, or the suspicion of bias, there are clear provisions for the exclusion from the hearings of any committee member who had previously adopted a stance on the issue being investigated. This should not be seen as a reflection on the capability of the member to act fairly, but a necessary requirement in the interests impartiality and transparency. The legislation aims at ensuring that each committee would have the power to function on it own, rather than at the behest of the existing government. Providing ordinary members of the Oireachtas with more power and responsibility is a welcome development.

There is currently a tug-of-war going on between the Public Accounts Committee and the Finance Committee over which should conduct the banking inquiry. Under proposed legislation the responsibility to assign the inquiry would rest exclusively with the houses of the Oireachtas. Holding proper inquiries within the Oireachtas would provide an alternative to extravagant and wasteful judicial enquiries, or merely relying on the media to investigate. It would, of course, preclude findings of guilt against an individual who is not a member of the Oireachtas.

The emphasis should be on the need to conduct the inquiry impartially and transparently. This week already, there was the case of Una Butler, who denounced the HSE for not consulting her during its investigating into the case of her husband, John, who killed himself after killing their two children in Nov 2010.

There should certainly have been an investigation into the circumstances of that case, especially as the husband had been suffering from depression. People who were seen to be impartial should have conducted the investigation, and Mrs Butler should have been consulted. It is not suggested that anybody in the HSE was to blame, but all such investigations — whether judicial, departmental, or parliamentary — should be transparent.