Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I welcome the Minister's amendments and remarks. It is true that there is a knock-on effect in accepting my proposal. I understand similar amendments are required to sections 4 and 5. I ask the Minister to indulge me in putting forward the case that my amendment No. 6 is more eloquent than his amendment No. 5. However, I am not prepared to go to the wire on that.

The point is that it is not sufficient to allow the law to stand such that a fine is considered adequate penalty for somebody guilty of trafficking. The Minister pointed out the implications where a corporate body is involved. My amendment No. 6 seeks to encompass this, and sufficient discretion is afforded to the court in the wording of the legislation. The original wording in the Bill would probably be unconstitutional because it could be construed as providing for a mandatory life term for all offences. Clearly, there would be difficulties with that. In any event, the Minister has met the point and whichever way he wishes to go is acceptable.

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