Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I do not fully understand amendment No. 97 which relates to section 147 and deals with the prosecution of offences. Subsection 147(1) provides that an accredited body will be guilty of offences if it contravenes provisions under various sections of the Bill, while subsection (2) deals with further offences that a person may commit. I pointed out on Committee Stage that given the way the Bill is drafted, there may be a liability for anybody giving legal advice to a person seeking to find out the legal background position with a view to effecting an inter-country adoption. This means that a solicitor giving legal advice in good faith or an airline or travel agency that sells a ticket to a person intent on inter-country adoption could be prosecuted.

The Minister of State seems to have taken on board that the provisions in this area were poorly drafted and created various perils that should not exist. I am not really sure how amendment No. 97 works. I welcome the deletion of certain provisions, which clearly takes account of what was said on Committee Stage. However, amendment No. 97 is a strange provision, providing that in determining whether somebody can be prosecuted for a particular offence, the court shall have regard to a whole series of matters which appear no longer to make them liable to a criminal offence. I do not understand how that will work.

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