Jim McDaid (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

The answer to that is "no". The public wants people who can drive safely and to have confidence in them to do that. Offences are listed in the Bill which would prohibit a person obtaining a licence, but they do not deal specifically with people released under the Good Friday Agreement. The offences listed in the Bill, whenever they were committed, continue to be offences and to prohibit a person from holding a licence.

In promoting a safer environment for the users of small public service vehicles, there is a need for the clarity evident in this section. I have purposely provided for such clarity to the extent that the section will have immediate and full effect. That is not to say that the application of the disqualification provisions is absolute.

The section provides a clear and reasonable system of access to the courts for those engaged in the delivery of small public service vehicle operations. They can go to the courts. It is open to all people, regardless of whether they were released under the Good Friday Agreement. It is up to them. They have access to the courts like all others. This is provided in a definitive manner in section 36(3) and, for that reason, the section contains no provision for direct exemption from its application.

Question, "That the words and figures proposed to be deleted stand", put and declared carried.

Amendment declared lost.