Committee chair says referendum is needed to compel absentees before it
THE Oireachtas Finance Committee chair John McGuinness believes a referendum is needed to bolster the power of the committees.
As another marathon committee session examining RTÉ came to a close last week, its chairwoman Niamh Smyth indicated the committee could seek powers of compellability to force witnesses to attend.
There was a long list of RTÉ absentees including former director general Dee Forbes, former director of content Jim Jennings, former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe, and former chair of the board Moya Doherty – with reasons offered for non-attendance ranging from poor health to personal commitments.
Mr McGuinness told the Irish Daily Mail he did not believe compellability would be granted, because those the committee would like to compel have left RTÉ.
Mr McGuinness believes that if the committees’ weaknesses were explained to the public, they would vote in a referendum to strengthen them.
‘I think the public would respond and say “yes” if it was explained why it is needed. It’s essential to get better management of resources for the State,’ he said.
A referendum in 2011 proposing to amend the Constitution to grant full investigative powers to Oireachtas committees was rejected by the electorate.
Tánaiste Mícheal Martin said key witnesses, such as Ms Forbes, should give evidence to the committee – even if not in person. He said: ‘We have to respect people in terms of ill health and if people are not well enough to attend. That said, maybe other avenues could be explored as to how evidence could be taken in that respect or presentations could be taken. We, in the Oireachtas need to reflect also in terms of – I’m not commenting on current performances – but in terms of past episodes of Oireachtas committees, where many people felt that they didn’t get fair or due process.’
Mr Martin said this could be a factor in the decision of some of RTÉ’s executives and board members – like former chair Moya Doherty – to avoid coming back after attending the first time around.
‘Overall, I think the committee – the Media Committee, and Public Accounts Committee on this occasion, I think, have elicited very important information that we wouldn’t have got otherwise,’ Mr Martin added.
WHAT POWER DOES THE OIREACHTAS HAVE?
It can direct someone to attend before the committee on a date, time and place to give evidence and provide any document in their possession or control, as well as make discovery on oath in relation to any documents that have been in their possession or control. Any person in the State, any Irish citizen outside the State, or any person in an Irish registered vessel or aircraft or on an Irish diplomatic mission outside the State may be compelled by the committee to appear.
HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
An Oireachtas committee must seek in writing the consent of the Oireachtas Committee on Procedure and Privileges (CPP), chaired by the Ceann Comhairle, who will consider whether to grant approval. The process can take several months.
DO YOU HAVE TO ACCEPT BEING COMPELLED?
A person could take a High Court challenge but the rarely used power has never been tested in the courts.
WOULD IT SURVIVE A LEGAL CHALLENGE?
Constitutional expert Jennifer Kavanagh told the Irish Daily Mail that there is a strict framework and boundaries around the roles of the courts and the Oireachtas and it can be ‘extremely problematic.’
WHEN WAS COMPELLABILITY LAST GRANTED?
In 2022, the Oireachtas Finance Committee received the approval of the Ceann Comhairle and the CPP to compel Department of Health Secretary General Robert Watt to appear before the committee. Mr Watt had declined to appear before the committee to discuss the appointment of former chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan to a professor position in Trinity College. However, the committee Chair, Fianna Fáil TD John McGuinness asked the clerk of the commit
tee to write to Mr Watt, outlining that compellability had been granted and offered him the opportunity to appear voluntarily, which he chose to do. It is the first time since the banking inquiry in 2015, that the powers were granted.
KERINS CASE
The legal fallout from the 2014 PAC questioning of then CEO of Rehab Group, Angela Keirns led to a cautious approach being adopted by officials over the committees. After an initial bruising committee exchange, the committee sought to powers of compellability to force Ms Kerins to return before it , despite her having resigned from her role. Ms Kerins’ legal team wrote to the committee, saying she had been hospitalised following her initial appearance and would not be returning. A lengthy legal battle emerged and is still ongoing. In 2019, the Supreme Court overruled an earlier decision by the High Court regarding the case, and found that PAC acted unlawfully by straying significantly outside its terms of reference and the terms of an invitation to her, which permitted questioning about her salary and the operation by Rehab of three Statefunded schemes. The Supreme Court refrained from any finding that trenched on the protected speech of the committee members. Ms Kerins is still in a legal battle over the recovery of her costs. She wants damages for personal injury, loss of reputation about how it dealt with her, and loss of career after her appearance at the PAC.