Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I move amendment No. 27:

In page 30, lines 8 to 17, to delete subsection (10) and substitute the following:

"(10) A licensee who fails to comply with a code of practice is guilty of an offence.".

This amendment is to ensure there are more teeth to the code of practice. As the Minister will be well aware, section 28 of the Bill will make it an offence to offer a property management service without first having a licence. Indeed, the penalty for that is set quite high - a term of five years' imprisonment on conviction on indictment and a fine not exceeding €5,000, or 12 months' imprisonment on summary conviction. The severity of the punishment clearly would deter anyone from setting up an illegal practice, which is good news for the consumer. In light of that, however, should there not be stronger enforcement placed within section 18? Clearly, it is not enough to be licensed. Section 18 provides that the licensee should comply with codes of practice. Section 18(7) states the authority shall encourage licensees to comply with codes of practice. Subsection (10) states that a failure on the part of a licensee to observe any provision of a code of practice will not of itself render the licensee liable to any civil or criminal proceedings. That is the subsection we seek to amend with this amendment, to substitute instead the simple phrase, "A licensee who fails to comply with a code of practice is guilty of an offence." It is, as I stated, to give teeth to the code of practice and ensure some balance is maintained. It seems somewhat unbalanced if there are such relatively heavy penalties and the possibility of being prosecuted on indictment under section 28 for offering a service in an unlicensed way. Once one is licensed, it seems, even if one does not comply with the code, one will not be subject to any penalty.

Has the Minister given any thought to giving more serious powers of enforcement to the code? It seems the code of practice will be critical in ensuring consumer protection. The licensing provision is welcome, but a licence alone is not enough to guard against abuse, as we have seen in the legal profession as much as anywhere else.