Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I am not saying this to embarrass anybody but I would have thought that if one sent a deed to one's client at home, asked him or her to sign it, return it to one's office and one signed the witness part one's self, technically speaking, one has not witnessed the signature. As Senator Jim Walsh said, it is a shortcut and in certain circumstances, one could end up in the soup. I may be wrong on that but I believe the term "witnessing a signature" has the same meaning in conveyancing as it does in a testamentary context. I am not conscious that I am making the law stricter but if my understanding is correct, what is in the text confirms it. If the Senator's understanding is correct, it is making the law stricter but I do not believe she is correct.