Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 43:

In page 27, to delete lines 13 and 14 and substitute the following: “30. If the High Court is satisfied, on an application by the Minister, that the hearing of an appeal of a high-risk vendor measure, or a variation in such measure, is likely to result in

the disclosure of relevant material and that such disclosure would create a risk to the security of the State it shall exclude from the hearing of the appeal all persons except—”.

Following concerns raised on Committee Stage about the hearing of appeals, I am introducing amendment No. 43 in order to provide additional safeguards to ensure that the decision by a judge that the hearing of an appeal is held other than in public is only granted if the judge is satisfied, on an application by the Minister, that the hearing in public is likely to result in the disclosure of material relating to a risk to the security of the State.

In respect of amendment No. 44, as a result of the constructive feedback that I received on Committee Stage, I have already introduced an amendment to section 27 that provides that if the High Court is satisfied on an application by the Minister that the hearing of an appeal of a high-risk vendor measure or a variation in such measure is likely to result in the disclosure of relevant material and that such disclosure would create a risk to the security of the State, it should exclude from the hearing of the appeal all persons except the persons outlined in section 27. This should address the Deputy's concerns as addressed in his amendment and, as such, amendment No. 44 will not be required.

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