James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the committee will recall that when we did prelegislative scrutiny on this legislation, it was one of our findings that it was important to have precision in criminal law because prosecutions flow from it. Elements of the crime must be satisfied in order to have successful prosecutions. I listened to Deputy Ó Ríordáin's comments about the 1989 Act and perhaps the difficulty in successfully prosecuting under it. The point is well made. We have heard the Minister's offer and response so I will ask Deputy Pringle how the amendment stands.