Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

This is a standard form section, which is inserted in most cases where provision is made for an offence that can be committed by a body corporate and the intention is to extend liability not to the piece of paper and the seal of the company, which can hardly be put in a dock in court, but to the person who makes the decision, that is, the director or officer of the company who brings about the illegality in question and breaches criminal law.