Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

Section 5 provides a definition of the relevant issue by saying, "the Minister may request the person in the designated country concerned who performs functions the same as or similar to those performed by the Minister under this Act to consent to and arrange . . .". It is clear who the person is. The definition section would only repeat that in a different place in the same statute. It is clear from the terms of the statute that the person to whom this request can be made is somebody who performs the same or a similar function to the Minister in the corresponding state. I would run into difficulty if I were to attempt to put a catalogue of possible definitions, sufficiently broad to cover every member state of the convention. What is in section 5 is perfectly adequate.

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