Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 38:

In page 41, between lines 25 and 26, to insert the following:

“(3) The Commission shall ensure that fees for different classes of application or review request are not prohibitive.”.

Again, this is in relation to the trusted flagger. It is fairly straightforward. It asks that: "The Commission shall ensure that fees for different classes of application or review request are not prohibitive." There is no point in having all the justice in the world if you cannot write the cheque to access it. It seeks to keep the fees low because nobody wants to see a situation where people have the ability, competence, enthusiasm and all the rest of it to be a vetted researcher or trusted flagger, but the cost is prohibitive so that only a select few can actually gain those positions. Personally, I feel it is important that any fees that are charged should be just enough to cover administrative costs. Something along those lines could be included. I have a concern in relation to smaller organisations. There needs to be a multiplicity of voices in relation to trusted flaggers and trusted researchers. Again, there are entities, agencies, institutes and whatever they want to call themselves that fulfil all the criteria, have the education, do the research, etc. Equally, there are people who, on the face of it, would be entitled to trusted flagger status. We really do not want a situation where the costs for whatever reason spiral out of control and serve as a barrier. Obviously, there are enough barriers in terms of the criteria. They are really high, as I think they should be. It is not a job one would take lightly, and it should not be one. You therefore have to fulfil all the criteria and tick all of those boxes, and that is really important. However, if you do that, you may then come up against a barrier where the organisation cannot afford the application, simply because many NGOs operate on a shoestring budget. If the fees are too high, then they just will not be able to participate. In order to keep the field as wide as possible and to encourage as many people who fulfil the rigid criteria - which are entirely appropriate - there should be some mechanism in place to keep the fees at a level that is not prohibitive.