Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

We are still not satisfied. I do not know whether the Minister has seen it, but I have tabled an amendment to his amendment. I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 25:

To delete "has such functions as are conferred on it" and substitute "and its members have such functions as are conferred on them".

The Minister is correct that I was initially unhappy with the wording of the section. Section 7(3) states: "In addition to providing policing and security services, the Garda Síochána's functions are to provide any other services ...". I sought to tighten this up by stating the Garda Síochána "shall" provide services. The Minister then introduced amendment No. 25. My amendment is to the effect that it is not proper to refer to the Garda Síochána as a body and that the Bill should refer to the members of the Garda Síochána. If amendment No. 25 was allowed to stand, it would be improper in a legal fashion.

While I do not have a general difficulty with the manner in which the Minister has tried to introduce the amendment, it is flawed if left as it is. All of the functions under subsection (1) were those referring to the functions of the Garda Síochána, such as preserving the peace and public order. Then, we are referring to a function that is not the function of——

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