Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 5, to delete line 14.

The amendment pertains to section 3 of the Bill, which provides entry and inspection of relevant premises by members of An Garda Síochána. Section 3 states:

3. (1) Any member, whether in uniform or not, may enter without a warrant any relevant premises at any time and there make such inspection, examination, observation and enquiry as he or she may think proper for- (a) the purposes of giving a direction under section 31A(7) of the Act of 1947, whether in relation to a relevant provision or otherwise...

My amendment seeks to delete that final half-sentence which is line 14, namely, “whether in relation to a relevant provision or otherwise”. The interpretation section, under section 1 of the Bill, defines a “direction” given by a member of An Garda Síochána as “a direction given under section 31A(7) of the Act of 1947 in relation to a relevant provision”. Therefore, under the direction section of this Bill, a member of An Garda Síochána can legitimately enter a premises for the purposes of giving direction in regard to a relevant provision of this Bill. Section 3(1)(a) expands that so they can enter the premises for the purposes of giving a direction not only under the provisions of this legislation, but also “or otherwise”, whatever “or otherwise” might mean.

It seems that is in conflict with the definitions section we have already agreed. It would be the norm in legislation that the legislation acts as a coherent entity and that we do not normally provide for extraneous powers in legislation. My question to the Minister is this. What is the “or otherwise” provision? I believe the House would be much safer in determining that a Garda member, whether in uniform or not, may enter without a warrant any relevant premises for the purposes of giving a direction under this Bill. These are the issues we have talked about and debated, namely, to give gardaí the power to enter a premises, and, therefore, to give a direction for any other matter outside the scope of this Bill seems contradictory to the norms of legislation, in my view. It might be that the Minister feels there are other Covid provisions in other legislation, and that when gardaí are there and see something happen, then they might as well give a direction under that as well. I do not think that is a good way to proceed. We need to clarify that what we are giving here is the power for members of An Garda Síochána, without warrant, to enter premises to do inspections. We need to ensure that the provisions we are providing for in this legislation are met, and where they are not met, there is the capacity to give a direction to the proprietor of such a premises to comply with the legislation.

It is often the case the drafters slot in words like “or otherwise”, giving a much broader scope than this House would intend to legislation. I propose, therefore, that we would delete the half-sentence that includes “or otherwise” which is encompassed by line 14, page 5, of the Bill.

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