Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

There are a number of situations where an offence which is being committed may not come to light for some time. For example, the damage caused by a breach of a duty of care regarding a discharge or damage caused to a pipe during building works may not be apparent until some time after a related offence was committed. In the circumstances, it is considered appropriate and necessary to provide for the maximum reasonable period of time, during which proceedings may begin following the committing of an offence. In this instance I believe that five years is a reasonable period of time. This five-year requirement is a standard provision in environmental legislation and is included in the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Waste Management Act 1996. It is a reflection of the nature of certain offences under such legislation which, as evidence of the resulting damage is not readily apparent, may not come to light for some time after they are perpetrated. The five-year limit provided for is intended to strike a balance between the rights of persons accused of committing an offence and the opportunity for supervisory and enforcement authorities to discover the offence and initiate a prosecution. As the limit is well established in the environmental legislation, I cannot agree to change that. Consistency across the legislative code is one of the objectives of the ongoing process of regulatory reform. An application of the five-year prosecution limit across the code of environmental legislation complements the same.

Following Committee Stage I gave serious consideration to the amendment tabled by Senator Bannon with a view to finding a compromise within the time available, but on the advice of my officials and the mere fact that this is not something new I am introducing but something already in place in the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 and the Waste Management Act 1996, it is not a matter of being consistent but of being realistic. It could take some time before the damage showed up. In the circumstances, I regret I am unable to accept the amendment.