Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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I move amendment No. 9:

In page 6, between lines 20 and 21 to insert the following:

“11.Section 21 of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) The fixed payment notice may be served on the person:

(a) where the Commission has been provided with the person’s email address, by sending it to the person by electronic means to that email address, provided that a record that the email has been sent to the person is made for the sender by the email system used;

(b) by delivering it to the person;

(c) by sending it by registered post or by any other form of recorded delivery service to—

(i) in the case of an individual, the address at which the individual ordinarily resides or any other address provided by the individual for the purposes of this section,

(ii) in the case of a company, its registered office, or

(iii) in the case of any other body corporate or unincorporated body, its principal office or place of business.”.”.

These amendments relate to the electronic service of notices. Amendment No. 9 would amend section 21 of the principal Act so the section clearly provides SIPO can serve fixed payment notices, FPNs, for the late filing of lobbying returns electronically, which the commission has done ever since the relevant provisions of the principal Act came into force in January 2017.

I am proposing amendment No. 13 to bring this provision governing the service of notices, etc., relating to the administrative sanctions regime into line with similar provisions in other legislation currently in force. In addition, the amendment will ensure SIPO is able to prove service if a case should ever arise where a recipient seeks to claim the email has not been received. In effect, this is to provide further legal underpinning of a practice the commission already implements, namely, electronically serving these FPNs.