Appropriation Bill 2021 [Certified Money Bill]: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2021-12-16
============================================================

Ossian Smyth (GP), Dún Laoghaire

I thank Senator McDowell for making the ingenious connection between the historic function of the Appropriation Acts in a monarchic parliament, the importance of being able to hold the Executive to account, the functions of the Appropriation Acts in that regard, and how this relates to Covid-19 oversight in our current age. During the interregnum, we had a vacuum of committees and oversight facilities. Something ad hoc was constructed in a hurry. It was much better than nothing. It meant that there was a place. A system was set up whereby Ministers could be questioned, although it was outside the normal procedures. I think it worked. Deputy McNamara was elected as Chairman of that Covid-19 committee. I nominated him. I felt that he was challenging. He certainly acted as an independent Chair. I praise him for the work that he did on that. Senator McDowell threatened guerrilla action if he does not get some changes. He is welcome-----

---

Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted.

Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-12-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:59+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-12-16