Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

It is a phrase used frequently in the licensing code that "it shall not be unlawful". I do not want to give the Senator an off-the-cuff answer as to whether saying something is lawful is the same as saying that it shall not be unlawful. It may be that someone would claim that they have authority to do something by virtue of one proposition. A double negative says only that something is not unlawful in the circumstances without prejudice to whether it is lawful in the first place. When I was Attorney General, there was a "plain English" drafting manual in gestation, and I presume that it has been produced. I do not know whether the draughtsman in the Attorney General's office draws that distinction. There are sometimes occasions when saying that something is not unlawful is not the same as saying that it becomes lawful to do it.