Pat Gallagher (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Although I would like to be able to accommodate the Senator, I believe that it should be left to the relevant authorities to decide whether or not to make by-laws under section 4 as it stands, rather than obliging them to make what could be needless by-laws. If there is not a problem for certain local authorities at some ports, why introduce regulations unless they are necessary? Such regulation will be a matter for local authorities. That is why I have decided not to accept the proposal to delete the word "may" and substitute the word "shall". It is better that such matters be left to local authorities to decide. Some local authorities will have very little input in this area. If the wording was "shall", some of them may make needless by-laws. I do not think that having "may" in any way dilutes the Bill or removes anything from it that helps achieve our objective.