Victor Boyhan: Urges traffic-light clarity on EU fines
Victor Boyhan outlines a proposal to publish a traffic-light system update and infringement data to speed up committee oversight and increase transparency on EU directive implementation. He argues these updates, shared with committee chairs and accompanied by potential fine estimates, will reduce unnecessary delay and public frustration.
Proposal and purpose: Victor Boyhan proposes that the committee develop a clearer traffic-light signal (red, amber, green) alongside two additional data points to give quicker clarity on European instruments and possible sanctions. He says this approach will help the committee identify non-implementation and partial implementation of directives and estimate potential fines.
Implementation and committee engagement: Boyhan recommends sending the traffic-light updates and infringement information to the chairs of all relevant committees and encouraging sectoral committees to provide feedback. He stresses a two-way process: committees with specialist remit should review the material and return observations to improve oversight.
Impact and next steps: The proposal is presented as a way to increase openness and transparency on European affairs and make the committee's work more accessible. Boyhan notes the committee will work to source potential fines and incorporate the system into its communications strategy, and he seeks agreement from members to proceed.
Proposal and purpose: Victor Boyhan proposes that the committee develop a clearer traffic-light signal (red, amber, green) alongside two additional data points to give quicker clarity on European instruments and possible sanctions. He says this approach will help the committee identify non-implementation and partial implementation of directives and estimate potential fines.
Implementation and committee engagement: Boyhan recommends sending the traffic-light updates and infringement information to the chairs of all relevant committees and encouraging sectoral committees to provide feedback. He stresses a two-way process: committees with specialist remit should review the material and return observations to improve oversight.
Impact and next steps: The proposal is presented as a way to increase openness and transparency on European affairs and make the committee's work more accessible. Boyhan notes the committee will work to source potential fines and incorporate the system into its communications strategy, and he seeks agreement from members to proceed.
We publish thousands of recordings to make Irish politics transparent and resistant to manipulation. Spotted an error? Report it — together we are building a reliable archive of Irish politics.
Other speeches
Tego samego dnia All speeches from this day →
Aidan Farrelly
Aidan Farrelly: Rushed Aviation Law Threatens Climate Duty
Brendan Smith
Brendan Smith: Urgent call for Cavan after-school support
Timmy Dooley
Timmy Dooley: Defends State-Owned Gas Storage
Paul Murphy
Paul Murphy: Government Burning Our Climate Targets
Richard Boyd Barrett
Richard Boyd Barrett: Warns Against 'Rearm Europe' Agenda
Micheál Martin
Micheál Martin: Extends Fuel Tax Relief, Targets Child Poverty
Transcript
I think that there's nothing that more angers the public at large is where there is unnecessary delay and unnecessary fines of any description. People just cannot understand that a member state could be fined. But look, that is the sanction, that's open to them. I think as we develop our work on this committee and we develop our systems, we will clearly get to this quicker, we will have greater clarity on the issues at stake and as Senator Roberts suggested, running parallel with your red, amber, green light signal, parallel to that, I think they will give us two critical pieces of information which will be vital in terms of our work. Because our work here really at the end of the day is to have a greater openness and transparency on European affairs and particularly these instruments. So I think that would be a clever thing to do and it's something that we could then put up on our designated section of the website or certainly in our own communication strategy about the work of the committee. Would I suggest, as we've said already, that we would send the traffic light system update to the chairs of all the committees so that they can see all of it, along with the information on the infringement relating to the non-implementation or partial implementation of directives. We will also try and source the potential fines that might come out of those. Is that agreed? I think that's a great suggestion but before I qualify that, I think you're proposing to send that to the committees, that's great, but also encourage them to have feedback. It's a two-way process. These are sectoral committees with specialist interest in particular topics which are relevant to this. We can't have our hands and eyes over everything, it's not possible with the vastness of it, but given these are designated committees with a designated remit relevant to the referral that you're going to make, which I fully support, I think we should at least put on the record we would ask them as soon as possible after they receive them and had an opportunity to discuss them in their sessions, that we'd welcome feedback, that's all we can say, but I think that's important that we have that two-way engagement. Is that agreed? Agreed.