Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

I move amendment No. 26:

In page 10, line 5, after "licence" to insert "or who infringes the terms of a licence".

I am not well up on this Bill so the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Ryan, will have an easy target. The thrust of this amendment is to make the breach of the conditions of a licence an offence. Section 10 of the Bill creates an offence for providing an unlicensed service, but there is no offence for breaching the terms of a licence once it has been granted. There is a carte blanche in that respect. Regulatory experience shows clearly that the breaches of the terms under which it is provided are much more frequent than instances of unapproved services being offered. Penalties need to be extended to punish breaches of the terms of the licence.

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