Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A regulation has to have some principles and policies for whoever will make it - presumably the Minister - to be able to stand over it in court if it is challenged. While the power to seek information is a general one, strengthened by the previous amendment tabled by Sinn Féin, which, in fairness to the Minister, he accepted, that does not in any way mean there will be an enforcement mechanism if the information is not provided, and that is what I have been harping on about since the start of Report Stage, three sessions ago. It is all well and good to say the regulator will have the power, by regulation, to look for information, but it is about what will happen if it is not given the information. There has to be a specific power to allow the regulator to go to court to get the information, but there is no such power as far as I can see. There is the possibility of a criminal prosecution for a failure to adhere to the regulations, but that is a slow, cumbersome process that I do not think will result in the fast transfer of information, which the regulator will require to be successful. I tabled a previous amendment that would have provided that beef factories would automatically have to provide a lot of information daily, but that was not accepted, so now I am saying the regulator should at least be able to seek specific information and that there should be a process whereby if they do not provide that information to the regulator, it can go to court and seek a court order compelling the provision of the information.

See this speech in context