Colm Burke (Cork North Central, Fine Gael)
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I wish to refer to an issue that arose in the last few weeks. In New Zealand, notice of 48 hours is given of a change in regulations. In Ireland, regulations were introduced relating to gatherings. The Irish Hotels Federation wrote to the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport and that Department replied saying it had no correspondence from the Department of Health. The Irish Hotels Federation then notified a hotel that it should stick to what was the procedure in place up to that point. The hotel followed through on that. The difficulty that arises is that it is clear there was a breach because the regulations were made on a Tuesday night and the hotel event was held on the Wednesday night, yet there was an exchange of correspondence in which a Department advised a national body. It could also happen with a farming organisation. The farming organisation could write to the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and that Department could reply that it has received no correspondence from the Department of Health. Where does that leave representative bodies in dealing with Departments when they get such replies? Does it not leave those representative bodies wide open to be brought into any court proceedings that may arise as a result of the advice they gave?