Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 7, line 4, after “writing” to insert “, or by any other manner and in any such system as may be prescribed by the Minister for Justice following consultation with the Minister for Health in accordance with subsection (6),”.

I am standing in for Senator Gavan, who regrets he cannot be here.I will speak briefly to the three amendments. All three amendments are simple and relate to the lack of a Garda reporting system. They address the issue of Garda warnings and those who take part in acts that may be forbidden by the legislation, such as to "communicate material ... or otherwise engage in conduct". This issue was raised in the Dáil and the Minister's argument was that An Garda Síochána does not have a system to record warnings in the first place. There is a system to record an offence or potential charge, which is the PULSE system. The Garda does not record warnings and the Minister stated it was not his job to involve himself in the operational matters of An Garda Síochána. These amendments will bring the Minister for Justice into consultation with the Minister for Health. I would welcome the Minister's response.