A Busy Evening in Dáil Eireann

In news that they might have been sitting on until government offices were closed, the government is rushing through emergency legislation tonight to close off the “loophole” that would have allowed Sean Quinn’s health insurance group to be treated as a new entrant when it took over BUPA Ireland, therefore avoiding risk equalisation payments for 3 years. [UPDATED]
 
[Links: RTE, ireland.com.]  It’s also bad news for the TDs and staff who planned on watching the Champions League matches, but it sounds like they want everything done tonight, including Mary McAleese’s signature on the bill [there's no sign of the bill in this morning's Order of Business].   Legal experts will no doubt be at work, as at least to this non-expert, the legislation sounds like it contains both retroactive and discriminatory components — but probably nothing obvious enough for Mary to want to refer it to the Council of State.

Also of some interest is the speed of action here compared with the kid-gloves towards NTR and the West Link, although the latter company of course has had its legal ducks in a row for a long time.

UPDATE: As we noted above, the Order Paper for yesterday did not include the bill, leading Pat Rabbitte to claim today in the Dail that it was “fraudulent“.  And in a response that needs to be parsed very carefully, McDowell claimed that the “decision was made” to bring the bill only yesterday afternoon, after the Order of Business had been submitted.  But delaying its tabling was clearly part of the strategy, as the Quinn group apparently could have filed some insurance paperwork to get in before the bill took effect.  So the intent to proceed with emergency legislation was clearly present prior to the “decision.”  Incidentally, the Order of Business for yesterday now contains a supplement for the emergency bill.

For reference and for the benefit of anyone coming from Sarah’s link, here’s the relevant exchange today in the Dail –

Mr. Rabbitte:   Will the Tánaiste assure the House that this is the real Order of Business? We were transparently furnished with an Order of Business yesterday that was fraudulent and led to another being put to the House after Private Members’ Business when an extremely urgent matter had to be taken with minimum notice. Can we rely on this as the real Order of Business?

The Tánaiste:   This is the real Order of Business. The decision to bring the legislation before the House yesterday evening on an emergency basis was not made until the afternoon. I reject the suggestion fraudulence or sleight of hand was involved.