James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 29:

In page 13, between lines 1 and 2, to insert the following:

“SCHEDULE 1

Section 4(1)

1. Foreign Tribunals Evidence Act 1856, section 3

2. Public Works Loans Act 1875, section 44

3. General Prisons (Ireland) Act 1877, section 11

4. Dundalk Harbour and Port Act 1925, section 73(8)

5. Arterial Drainage Act 1925, section 28(2)

6. Limerick Harbour Act 1926, section 24(9)

7. River Owenmore Drainage Act 1926, section 19(2)

8. Barrow Drainage Act 1927, section 30(2)

9. Electricity (Supply) Act 1927, section 88(4)

10. Cork Harbour Act 1933, section 7(9)

11. Galway Harbour Act 1935, section 58(9)

12. Shops (Hours of Trading) Act 1938, section 5(2)

13. Industrial Alcohol Act 1938, section 29(2)

14. Turf Development Act 1946, section 42(2)

15. Coast Protection Act 1963, section 27(2)

16. Fishery Harbour Centres Act 1968, section 2(6)

17. Court of Justice of the European Communities (Perjury) Act 1975, section 1

18. Gas Act 1976, Second Schedule, Article 7(3)

19. Criminal Evidence Act 1992, section 29(3)

20. Diplomatic and Consular Officers (Provision of Services) Act 1993, section 6

21. Children Act 1997, section 21(3)

22. Employment Permits Act 2006, section 35(4)

SCHEDULE 2

Section 4(2)

1. Tumultuous Risings Act 1775, sections 16 and 22

2. Dublin Police Magistrates Act 1808, sections 57 and 124

3. Evidence (Ireland) Act 1815, section 8

4. Evidence on Commission Act 1831, section 7

5. Church Temporalities Act 1833, section 123

6. Civil Procedure Act 1833, section 23

7. Debtors (Ireland) Act 1840, section 78

8. Perpetuation of Testimony Act 1842, section 1

9. Lands Clauses Consolidation Act 1845, section 149

10. Railways Clauses Consolidation Act 1845, section 160

11. Markets and Fairs Clauses Act 1847, section 57

12. Gasworks Clauses Act 1847, section 44

13. Harbours, Docks, and Piers Clauses Act 1847, section 96

14. Cemeteries Clauses Act 1847, section 65

15. Town Police Clauses Act 1847, section 76

16. Attachment of Goods (Ireland) Act 1850, section 10

17. Civil Bill Courts (Ireland) Act 1851, section 104

18. Fines Act (Ireland) 1851, section 6(2)

19. Dublin Carriage Act 1853, sections 66 and 68

20. Convict Prisons (Ireland) Act 1854, section 21

21. Chancery and Common Law Offices (Ireland) Act 1867, sections 17, 45 and 53

22. Commissioners For Oaths (Ireland) Act 1872, sections 5 and 9

23. Slave Trade Act 1873, section 22

24. Public Health (Ireland) Act 1878, section 262

25. Explosive Substances Act 1883, section 6(2)

26. Central Bank Act 1942, section 33BA(8)

27. Criminal Justice Act 1951, First Schedule, reference number 3

28. Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1960, section 29

29. Extradition Act 1965, section 3(1)

30. Redundancy Payments Act 1967, section 39(17)

31. Local Elections (Petitions and Disqualifications) Act 1974, section 20(2)

32. Criminal Law (Jurisdiction) Act 1976, section 12(8)

33. Bankruptcy Act 1988, section 21(4)

34. Child Abduction and Enforcement of Custody Orders Act 1991, section 36(5)

35. Patents Act 1992, section 130(3)

36. Criminal Evidence Act 1992, section 27(2)

37. Electoral Act 1992, Third Schedule, Rule 15

38. Referendum Act 1994, section 52(2)

39. Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, section 32(5)

40. Proceeds of Crime Act 1996, sections 9(2) and 16B(6)(b)

41. European Parliament Elections Act 1997, Schedule 2, Rule 142(2)

42. Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, section 1066 and Schedule 27

43. Children Act 1997, section 28(2)

44. Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse Act 2000, section 14(7)

45. Valuation Act 2001, Schedule 2, paragraph 10

46. Children Act 2001, section 255(5)

47. Mental Health Act 2001, section 49(5)

48. Residential Institutions Redress Act 2002, section 7(6)

49. Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005, section 333(11)

50. Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006, section 12(5)

51. Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008, section 2(1)

52. Criminal Procedure Act 2010, section 7

53. Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013, sections 29(1), 75(2), 81(1) and 90(2)

54. Companies Act 2014, section 671(7), subsections (1) and (3) of section 881 and sections 931A(7), 938(7) and 1500(3)

55. Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017, section 47(10)

56. Judicial Council Act 2019, subsections (4) and (6) of section 69

57. Rules of Procedure (Defence Forces) 2019 (S.I. No. 555 of 2019), Rule 61

58. Companies Act 2014 (Procedures Governing the Conduct of Section 934 Investigations) Regulations 2020 (S.I. No. 16 of 2020), Regulation 8(9)”.

Amendments Nos. 29 to 35, inclusive, are a series of technical amendments to the existing Schedules 1 and 2 of the Bill. Amendment No. 29 updates Schedule 1 to reflect changes to section 4 of the Bill. That section, as now amended, provides that where an offence of perjury is committed under an older enactment, which is set out in Schedule 1, the offender shall be liable to proceedings against him or her under this new Act. Similarly, the schedule is amended so that references to perjury and subornation of perjury, which are now set out in the new Schedule 2, are to be construed in accordance with their definitions in this proposed Act. Schedule 2 of the Bill currently provides for amendments to certain older Acts that contain perjury provisions so that they may be consolidated under this proposed Act having this new statute applied to them.

Many of the Schedule 2 amendments delete penalty provisions for false statements in historic legislation so that they may be replaced by the penalties sections within this Bill. This, in combination, with the approach taken in section 4 and Schedule 1 of this Bill provides a more consistent approach so that perjury offences under other older enactments are subject to the relevant provisions of this Bill. Amendment No. 30 is a technical amendment that deletes a provision deleting section 2 of the Perjury Act 1791 from Schedule 2. This amendment is not required as that section of the 1791 Act has already been repealed by the Statute Law Revision (Ireland Act) 1879. Amendments Nos. 31 to 33, inclusive, are technical amendments to the text in Schedule 2 pertaining, respectively, to the Assurance Companies Act 1909, the Checkweighing in Various Industries Act 1919 and the Statutory Declarations Act 1938 to update the reference to this proposed Act in that amending text and to provide that the text is read more clearly.

Amendment No. 34 deletes the text providing for changes to the Dentists Act 1985 with regard to updating penalties for falsely obtaining registration under that Act. This deletion is no longer required or warranted as section 8 is to be deleted from the Bill for the reasons I outlined earlier. Amendment No. 35 is a standard amending provision to the Bail Act 1997 in providing that specified serious offences are added to the schedule of the Act. A serious offence under that Act means an offence for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be punished for a term of imprisonment for a term of five years or by a more severe penalty. Offences under this proposed Act are, therefore, to be added to the schedule of the Bail Act.