Dr. Eamonn Cahill:

I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to clarify. I certainly do not mean in any way to imply that the availability of resources or staff would be in any way a consideration in deciding how to respond to a potential infringement - quite the opposite. The Department has been investing extra staff in this area in the past two years. It just goes back to the fact that responses need to be proportionate and relevant to the level of infringement that has been encountered. What we are in essence talking about is potentially writing to a company and giving it a timeframe - six months or three months - to put in place a more rigorous and more robust internal compliance programme. If at the end of that time we are satisfied that it has achieved that target, that would be a satisfactory outcome. Absolutely, the decision to pursue an action through the courts would be exclusively and entirely determined by the severity of the offence and the evidence to take forward that case.

In response to the Deputy's final question, she is correct that the authorised officers will be officials of the Department appointed by the Minister of the day.