Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

Noise would include music. The proprietor of the premises is not exempt from this and if he or she throws open the windows on a summer evening to ventilate the premises and the result is the music being heard in neighbouring houses in a way that seriously affects the amenity of those houses, particularly in the early hours of the morning, it would be capable of being dealt with on that basis.

With regard to Senator Tuffy's amendment, if the word "reasonable" is to be inserted, I presume it is to avoid steps which are unreasonable. If I must tell District Court judges not to make unreasonable orders, I will eventually get a rude letter from the President of the District Court saying that judges are appointed under the Constitution and they are obliged to make orders which are reasonable. It is assumed that they apply common sense and reason. All law is based on the proposition that it is reasonable.

I appreciate the spirit in which these amendments have been offered. People do not want a draconian, negative or oppressive regime to operate. However, I do not believe the Garda, the District Court or the Circuit Court on appeal will attempt to behave unreasonably or arbitrarily. These steps require much Garda time. In order to invoke this procedure, a garda must visit the premises, set out in writing the steps to be taken, give a notice to the person, note that they are not complying with it and then prepare a case and bring it to the District Court. A garda must persuade a judge, against a licensee who will usually have a lawyer, that he or she is acting in a sensible and fair way.

To be honest, one of our problems is under-enforcement of the law rather than over-enforcement. In the normal course of events, I do not believe these powers are unreasonable. They are fairly standard. The Bill gives the Garda Síochána a statutory basis for what is already happening successfully, particularly in Cork. The Garda is among the stakeholders in this process in so far as it represents all of us in terms of public order.