Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

The wording of section 45, to which amendment No. 15 refers, was altered on Committee Stage. It now provides that "a person who causes any damage" to a pipe "is guilty of an offence". The change addressed the intention of Senator Bannon's original Committee Stage amendment, which raised concerns about damage being caused to a pipe indirectly by the actions of a third party. Senator Bannon argued that such a person should also be liable. The amendment proposes to add a reference to damage being caused "directly or indirectly". Such a reference is unnecessary. If somebody causes damage, it is irrelevant whether they did so "directly or indirectly". The introduction of such a distinction would frustrate prosecutions and provide an unintended avenue to escape conviction. The Bill as it stands addresses the intention of Senator Bannon's original amendment. The Bill would be weakened, which I do not consider to be Senator Bannon's intention, if we were to go further by inserting "directly or indirectly".