Results 32,701-32,720 of 40,897 for speaker:Simon Coveney
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 79: In page 47, between lines 5 and 6, to insert the following subsection:“(5) In proceedings under this Act, evidence of information contained in a record may be given by producing a copy in legible form of that record, whether that record is maintained in legible or non-legible form and the copy is, until the contrary is shown, sufficient evidence of the...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: All these amendments seek to provide that instead of a copy of a notice being given to an animal keeper, the original notice would be given. The standard legal form of words that occurs throughout legislation in Ireland and elsewhere is as section 51 is currently drafted. I am advised that an original is merely an original copy, so the term "copy" includes an original.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: I move amendment No. 89: In page 48, subsection (2), line 15, to delete “16(4)” and substitute “16(3)”.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: No appeal is required.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: No, that is not how it works. There is a misunderstanding. Under subsection (c), a person is not obliged to make the payment.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: No. If a person does not pay it, the onus is on the local authority or my Department to take someone to court, as is currently the case.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The alternative is that someone will receive a summons in the post to appear in court.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Surely it is better to give people an option to-----
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: I do not believe so. It offers an out for the individual that is not in place currently. Farms will not be visited by authorised officers who are inexperienced in dealing with farm situations. We will put service agreements in place with authorised officers. The issue of service agreements is outlined at the top of page 62. If we are to have non-veterinary staff as authorised officers,...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Farms will continue to be visited by the same type of people.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: If we are to take on extra people from the Dogs Trust or the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, ISPCA, and make them authorised officers, I must be satisfied that they are appropriate for the job under the service agreement. Using the pool of people who have experience in preventing animal cruelty and in managing same will be useful in an urban environment. However,...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The accusation was that it might be a money-making exercise for local authorities.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The Deputy knows what it is like in my Department. We spend our time in court dealing with fishing issues in particular. We can provide something that makes sense for both sides. We are discussing summary fines for relatively minor offences that are clear breaches of the law. Instead of going to court, we will give someone an option to pay a fine. If he or she decides not to pay it in...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The rules must be enforced.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: More than one officer is required to make the decision.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Members are misreading the amendment. It is a positive measure. We should proceed with giving people the option of avoiding a summons by paying a fine for a relatively minor and measurable offence. This Bill puts all of the offences down on paper.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: I will make some comments because there is a misunderstanding regarding what we are trying to do. In order for an individual to get a fixed penalty notice, someone will have to carry out an inspection and go back to the local authority on reasonable grounds and a second authorised officer must approve that. Two people must be involved. Perhaps we can improve the wording but section 49(1)...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: Authorised officers will not see that as cruelty. They must be trained.
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: The idea behind this section is that, where possible, we should try to keep offences out of court, which is the same rationale behind the penalty points system whereby if people accept they are at fault and want to pay up and be done with it having learned their lesson, we should have a system that facilitates that. If somebody has mistreated an animal, either a domestic animal owner or a...
- Select Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine: Animal Health and Welfare Bill 2012: Committee Stage (Resumed) (11 Dec 2012)
Simon Coveney: It is not evidence until it goes to court.