Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I thank the Minister of State for his effort. On Committee Stage, the Labour Party made the point that we are a long way from allowing legal notice to be served by e-mail alone. There is so much spam floating around on the Internet that it would be totally unreasonable to expect a person to have received a legal notice of obligation just because an e-mail was sent to him or her. We suggested that notice by some other method, such as post, should also be required. The Minister replied by stating the existing section 3(1)(e) applies only to persons who have agreed to receive communication by e-mail, as we know. However, this is no solution to the problem because there is no safeguard with regard to what constitutes such agreement. For example, ticking a box on a form or failing to do so could constitute agreement to receive legal notices by e-mail, even where a person is not fully aware of what he or she is agreeing to.

The Labour Party reworded its Committee Stage amendment in light of what the Minister of State said to provide for a facility to acknowledge receipt of an e-mail. This is a formula used in other legislation and ensures the e-mail has been read by the person to whom it was addressed. The Minister of State stated he would consider our proposal and has done so in some form or other. His response is not to the total satisfaction of the Labour Party. It must be borne in mind that there is a criminal sanction involved, or certainly a sanction of a sort that would bring itself to bear on individuals in respect of legal notices they may not have received. We wanted to ensure there is a facility for confirming receipt of notices. The Minister of State has tried to meet our demands in some form, but not to the extent we would have liked because we are very careful in this regard. However, it is a move in the right direction and I will therefore accept the Minister's proposition.

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