Mr. Gary Tobin:

That is certainly one of the issues. There is also the broader issue concerning what is fair and proportionate interference with vested property rights in the State. We have concerns that there are clear constitutional and legal difficulties with the Bill. There are two provisions in the Constitution that deal with private property rights specifically, namely Article 40.3.2° and Article 43.

I am not a constitutional lawyer and do not claim to be an expert in constitutional law but the Bill appears to constitute an unjust attack on an individual's property rights and any encroachment on private property rights must satisfy a proportionality test. There is a question as to whether the Bill satisfies that proportionality test or not. The committee and the Oireachtas may wish to get its own legal advice on that and that is up to the committee but that is the Department's view on the legality issue.