Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

With all respect to the Minister, that reflects the conservatism within the bureaucracy. Section 599 has never been used. It is on the Statute Book for a good reason and it should be used. If the Government, with the backing of the deep pockets of the State, cannot use it, how can a small business or small company owner use or exploit it? Let us go for it. The Government should carry the loss, and if the courts hold against it, Members can amend the law to ensure this situation never occurs again. This is happening too often; too many companies are getting away with passing the buck and engineering matters to place the bills onto the shoulders of the Minister. It is important that this action be pursued, and the time to so do is overdue. People outside the House make the point to me that if the Department were owed €20 or €200 or €2,000 by an ordinary person - an overclaim, perhaps, or on foot of an inadvertent action - that person would be pursued with vigour. I ask the Minister to pursue this matter with vigour. I would be surprised if the Attorney General did not give the green light to pursue this action. What is the sense of having legislation on the Statute Book if it is useless and toothless?

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