Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We are coming to the end of the Bill. This point does not necessarily fit in with the section as the section has more to do with transitional issues in the new legislation and how it interacts with the investigations that are up and running. On previous sections we discussed penalties and awards. We are all too familiar with penalties being imposed on regulated financial institutions and the penalties are reduced by up to one third as a result of acceptance of the penalty. The argument is that it saves the Central Bank from having to go to court to fight this. Does the same provision apply in regard to individuals and, if so, how would it apply? It sticks in the craw of many people that we see there is a reduction of one third after having been caught for something that might be significant.