Lucinda Creighton TD

Lucinda Creighton TD Elected Chair of New Sub Committee to Examine Changed Role of Oireachtas Post Lisbon Treaty

24 March 2010

A new Oireachtas sub-Committee which will consider how the Houses of the Oireachtas can best use the new powers and entitlements granted under the Lisbon Treaty has today elected Lucinda Creighton TD as its chairperson.

The Committee will seek views from the political parties as well as MEPs on how the House of the Oireachtas should benefit from the new rights it has acquired since the passing of the Lisbon Treaty.

It will review the interim arrangements agreed by the D il and Seanad last December for the implementation of the relevant Lisbon Treaty provisions. As part of its work, the Committee also intends to look at what can be learnt from approaches taken by other parliaments post Lisbon.

Committee Chairperson, Lucinda Creighton TD said;
“The Lisbon Treaty has significantly changed national parliaments’ relationship with the EU. Parliaments have been given a range of new powers and entitlements which enable them to contribute actively to the good functioning of the Union.

It is vitally important that these new rights are effectively implemented by the Oireachtas and by each national parliament in the EU if the Union is to become more transparent, accountable and ultimately democratic.

In order for the Oireachtas to achieve this, the way we deal with EU matters needs to be critically examined and significantly revised in light of the Lisbon Treaty. The work of this Committee will help to realise this objective.”

The Committee is a sub-Committee of the Oireachtas European Affairs Committee and the Oireachtas Committee on European Scrutiny. Its full title is Oireachtas Sub-Committee on Review of the Role of the Oireachtas in European Affairs. It has been asked to report by 27 May 2010.

The Committee will also review the recommendations made by Sub Committee on Ireland’s Future in the European Union which reported in November 2008.