Sean Barrett (Independent)

Our mistake is that the Bill reads "Minister and where" and we are seeking to substitute this phrase with "Minister. Where". The word "Minister" is redundant and the word "where" should be capitalised on line 38 in order that the sentence would read "Where an operator's licence is withdrawn or suspended, the operator shall...". The wording to be deleted is "an operator's licence is the property of the Minister". We apologise for our clumsiness.

I table the amendment because we do not know, in fact, if the operator's licence is the property of the Minister. Haulage, taxi and pub licences are sold. I appreciate they become the property of the Minister on conviction, but normally there is a market. This is to clear up the matter lest we cause consternation and people now think haulage licences cannot be sold. They have a resale value. They are of interest to economists in that if a licence had a very high value, it meant the Minister was restricting competition too much in order that people paid a super-normal price for the licence to make super-normal profits. We have always been interested in the sale of licences but thought they were the property of the persons whose names were on them rather than the Minister. If there is confusion, we start the sentence with the phrase, "Where the operator's licence is withdrawn or suspended", in other words, it becomes the Minister's property as a result of some offence believed to have been committed, but ab initio the licence belongs to the person who holds it. There has traditionally been a market in licences.