Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Yes. The Companies Act is in place. This section amends section 194 of the principal Act by inserting a new subsection after subsection (5), namely subsection (5A), which is set out in the section. It provides that "A company shall, if required by the Director, produce to the Director for inspection the book kept by it in accordance with subsection (5)(a) [which refers to the principal Act] and shall give the Director such facilities for inspecting and taking copies of the contents of the book as the Director may require."

The Deputy's amendment would involve a further amendment of that section of the principal Act, creating a further subsection. If one reads the entire section, it provides that any director who fails to comply with the section shall be guilty of an offence liable to a fine not exceeding €1,904. Taking account of the principal Act, if I was to accept what the Fine Gael amendment proposes, we would have two fines for the same crime. That is the issue. We are amending the principal Act, which refers specifically to a fine of €1,900. The problem is the Deputy would need the book I have to check through all this legislation.