Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I believe the argument being made by Senator McCarthy, as represented in his amendment, has already been clarified for his party in the Dáil. I do not accept the amendment and I presume the Senator has received the clarification he required following the Dáil debate. As I explained on Committee Stage in that House, this subsection deals with a party who has not complied with a determination order and who has claimed, at a Circuit Court hearing of an application by the board or by the other party for an enforcement order, that there was an absence of procedural fairness, that material considerations were not taken into account by the board, that manifestly erroneous decisions on legal issues were made or that the determination was manifestly wrong. The amendment would require the board or other applicant for the enforcement order to offer security for the costs of the non-compliant party should he or she fail to establish legal grounds for the non-compliance. It is not normal to award costs to the party who fails to establish his or her case or to require security from the other party for the costs of the person who may not be in a position to establish a case. I do not know whether that assists the Senator. However, the issue was discussed in the other House and I thought we had come to an understanding that the Labour Party had interpreted the provision incorrectly.