Charlie McConalogue (Donegal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their amendments and statements. The issue of the standard of proof to be used at a determination panel and by the appeals officer being on the balance of probabilities has been raised by the industry in the context of the licence holders points system, and is provided for under SI 318/2020. This issue was also raised at the pre-legislative scrutiny stage and on Second Stage in the Dáil. The legal standard of "beyond reasonable doubt" is almost entirely confined to criminal trials and is not applicable to proceedings of a civil nature where the standard used is the "balance of probabilities". This is the standard that is used for the points system. The legal position is that it is the appropriate legal standard in this case also. The legal position further indicates that the Supreme Court did not, in either the Crayden or the O'Sullivan cases in which a forerunner of SI 318/2020 was challenged successfully, make any reference to "beyond reasonable doubt" throughout the two judgments. The Supreme Court did not take issue with the balance of probabilities standard of proof in any of the statutory instruments it considered. For these reasons, I am not in the position to consider accepting the two amendments proposed.