Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

The Minister of State made a reasonable point but my difficulty is that multinational corporations can afford modern day Perry Masons or whizz kid defence lawyers and the prosecution of all the offences often does not succeed. If the prosecution of only one offence succeeds, the court should at least have the opportunity to impose a significant fine on the defendant. Whizz kid lawyers in other jurisdictions have brought legal argument to bear and it has become more difficult to secure a conviction on all counts. If a conviction can be secured reasonably quickly for one offence, the court should have the option to impose such a punishment. That would be a significant deterrent as well as a punishment and it should be available to the courts.

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