Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)

The principle of ensuring a real deterrent in the law applies here. Section 22(1)(c) of the Bill necessarily refers to the capacity of the sea-fishing boat. That ensures the State will not be left with mere boards, which may not even have scrap value, while the defendant retains a valuable asset which can otherwise be disposed of. In a recent case an owner did not enter into the financial bond to which I referred in the discussion of the previous amendment and allowed a useless sea-fishing boat, whose capacity had been disposed of, to be forfeited to the State. The State ended up with nothing but the liability for disposing of it. If a defendant pays the relevant fine, the sale of his or her sea-fishing boat will not arise. The provision will act as a deterrent and must be retained in the Bill.