Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The matters in the letter have not been addressed, but luckily there will be other opportunities later on. I will return to some of Deputy Brendan Ryan's points; he is totally correct.

The Minister has made no argument whatsoever, legal or otherwise, as to why these amendments cannot be agreed. Nobody is arguing for the deletion of the court action remedy. It still stands. If the competent authority wants to bring someone to court, we will not stop it. This simply provides the competent authority with another string to its bow by giving it the ability to issue a fine as a potential deterrent. There is no complication there. The idea that access to the High Court is being put forward as some sort of quick fix will be a sad irony for many people, including those sitting in the Gallery. Access to the courts is incredibly slow, and some of the people here tonight have been pauperised after having to go through the higher courts in order to deal with issues such as this with the DAA.

It is not a level playing field and, therefore, the suggestion that the courts system offers an easier route adds insult to injury for many people who are already suffering because of the airport. The Minister's point that if we issued fines, they would be disputed and delayed is a nonsense argument because the breach will have already occurred when the fine is imposed. The fine is not put forward as a deterrent to the action which has taken place and for which it was issued. Rather, it is a deterrent to future breaches. We do not consider it a panacea but instead it is one avenue the authority could use. Based on the Minister's response, I am satisfied that there is no legal impediment to us putting the amendment forward. It is not prescriptive and it does not specify the financial penalty. That the agreement might be voluntary in Manchester is neither here nor there. The amendment will simply allow the authority to have the power to impose a penalty.

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