Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I need to respond to a couple of things. With regard to amendments Nos. 8 to 10, inclusive, perhaps the Deputy has not seen the changes but it is now required that people present in person. That is very clear set out in the legislation. In fact, I believe an amendment the Deputy is to propose later removes the need for it to be done orally and allows it to be done in camera. I am not sure if that is what was intended in the later amendment, but it is very clear that people must present in person. We have engaged very closely with An Garda Síochána in developing this and it is happy with what we have set out with regard to the divisions. I apologise if I sounded like I was playing with words but we obviously cannot accept the amendment which refers to a local district headquarters because they will now be divisions. An Garda Síochána is also happy that people will not be allowed to evade it because there are a number of different mechanisms within the legislation in that regard. These include a requirement to report when moving address. People's local stations might not be open but they must report to a local Garda station so that An Garda Síochána knows where they are and is able to monitor them. There are a number of elements to this legislation in that respect. The question of districts and divisions is just a technicality but people must report to local gardaí or to gardaí in general, whether in their own local station or a nearby station, and An Garda Síochána is able to monitor them. We have a very clear system. Later amendments propose to change the time limit for notifying An Garda Síochána that a person is leaving an area from seven days to three or potentially two.