Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

On Committee Stage, I said I was not attracted by the amendment and remained unconvinced of its necessity. If I were to accept the amendment it would mean that a party failing to attend a conference as directed by a court could escape the consequence if their failure was reasonable. This implies that the court in giving the direction to attend would be acting in a manner requiring them to do something unreasonable. I cannot accept that construction and, therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment.