Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I move amendment No. 13:

In page 14, line 39, to delete "€500" and substitute "€5,000".

The amendment relates to District Court fines. Where there is reference to fines in the Bill I considered it useful to increase the level of fines to the District Court maximum, in this case I suggest increasing the fine from €500 to €5,000. I took a similar approach in the remaining amendments. It is similar to the case of the €100,000; we would allow for flexibility for the court to impose a reasonable fine where there are contraventions of the regulations being imposed by the Minister. Why should the fine not be increased from €500 to the maximum, €5,000, in section 11 and similarly in the other sections?

See this speech in context