David Norris (Independent)

It is precisely on those two technical amendments that I want to engage with the Minister of State. The reason I asked about amendment No. 23 was that the Minister of State concluded her remarks by saying "Finally, amendment No. 22" and I thought she might have inadvertently omitted amendment No. 23. Rather than they being taken together, it appeared as if she was concluding her comments on amendment No. 22.

As Senator Fitzgerald said, these amendments are quite technical. They cover an area on which I am not fully competent but the ordinary citizen is entitled to exhibit his or her ignorance and have it amended by an intelligent reply from the Minister. I am concerned about this because the public perceive there to be a vulnerability in terms of electronic exchanges. They can be subject to hacking, interfered with in various ways and the authenticity or validity of exchanges made by computer has, on occasion, been called into question. There is the possibility of fraud being committed. To a certain extent this is a matter that is being considered here. In other words, we are trying to make sure the person who makes the electronic application or transfers legal documents electronically is the appropriate person. Why is there no reference, for example, to establishing the fact that the person concerned is the appropriate person and not a fraudulent person attempting to make an electronic contract? That is the particular matter that concerns me regarding amendment No. 23.

Amendment No. 16 is technical, proposing a change in the form of words used. I am concerned about fraud in this respect. I am not sure if that is what was in the Minister of State's mind in tabling this amendment, but it is what is in my mine in this respect, namely, if an inappropriate person were to use a computer to intervene either for fraudulent reasons, I do not know whether that would be significant in this case, or simply to cause trouble. There are mischief makers and people, including some family members, who enjoy making trouble.