Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To be helpful, I believe this proposal may be a mistake. This provision pertains to the functions of an authorised officer and at present, the wording states "For the purposes of this Act or an EU measure an authorised officer may ... enter and inspect, at all reasonable times ... land or premises where he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that". This amendment proposes this should be changed to "an authorised officer should enter and inspect". That does not make sense in that one wishes to give them the option to do it rather than telling them they should be doing it. Clearly, entering a premises is a last resort and one would need to have very good reason to do that. Perhaps this amendment is not a mistake but it does not make too much sense to me.