Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak to the amendment. It is important. I note there are a number of amendments from other Members that propose to generally achieve the same outcome. I may have a bit of a problem with Deputy Howlin's amendment No. 1 in that I believe the timescale is far too long. This may be because I do not have the benefit of being in the Government and I wonder if some timescales seem to be in a different world on the Government side where one year means two years. I would have a real problem with that going out to two years. Even if the Minister was to accept this amendment I would have a real problem with that.

My amendment No. 11 proposes that the Act, "will cease to be in operation 6 months from the date of the first order ...". Continuously in the committee and in the debate yesterday on Second Stage the Minister has said that the Bill is almost ready to go. To my mind, that is not two years from now. It would be very soon. For something that is so serious that will have such serious implications for our own citizens, and all citizens, we need to be very careful about what we do in relation to it.

On Second Stage yesterday the Minister mentioned that she would not agree with these amendments because it would create uncertainty that a sunset clause would bring. I fail to see how a sunset clause could bring uncertainty. While I would take the Minister's bona fides on this, I believe the uncertainty here is that, with the best will in the world and no matter what the Minister says, I doubt very much that this Bill will come through before the end of the year. I doubt very much that will happen. Deputy Howlin's timeframe on this is probably a bit more realistic. This means that a lot of harm and a lot of damage can be done in relation to this.

It would actually create certainty if people were to know that there is a fixed sunset clause in this legislation, and that the legislation will cease to be. This will encourage people to gear up to realise that what is in the Bill may not be the final provisions but that we must try to achieve it anyway to be sure. From the little consultation that we did have it was clear that the mobile phone companies cannot comply with this legislation anyway for up to two years after it has passed. Even with this legislation, the mobile phone companies will be forced to comply with something that they have said upfront that they cannot comply with. Even if we did not care about the citizens of Ireland, and unfortunately I believe the Department of Justice may not care about them as it cares about the mobile phone companies - and we must look at how they do their business - the mobile phone companies cannot achieve this even if they wanted to. They cannot comply with it. It is very worrying that this is difficult to be complied with. We must take account of this.

The only way for it to be complied with, and for us to provide any certainty for anybody involved in this, is by having a sunset clause. While this would put pressure on the Minister and her Department, and I am aware that the Department is busy, surely this is the kind of stuff that should be providing pressure. The Bill is not in compliance with anything. It is based on legislation that a directive from the European Commission ruled out of order some seven or ten years ago. We continue on with this legislation even in spite of that. This is wrong. Even if we agree and believe the Court of Justice was wrong to bring down this legislation, it has done so and that is the reality.

I do not agree with it, but we have signed up to be under the control of the European courts. We are great Europeans so we should recognise what has happened and respect the court and the judgments it makes. For this reason, we need to have a timeframe for legal certainty and the security of the legislation.

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