Ciarán Lynch (Cork South Central, Labour)

I will be succinct. The Minister of State's response had positive aspects and he identified problems in the legislation. While I welcome and take on board his comments concerning Seanad amendments, will he provide further information on them this afternoon?

Amendments Nos. 3 and 4, while similar, are separate. The former's removal of a part of the Bill would rectify the issue and allow a judge discretion to deal with a scenario. I will propose a fair compromise. Were the Minister of State to accept amendment No. 3, the Labour Party would be prepared to withdraw amendment No. 4 and allow the relevant issue to be examined in the Seanad. I take on board the point that there must be a correlation between the size of the fine and the period of imprisonment. This matter could be resolved in the Seanad.

See this speech in context