Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to the Senator's point. A university campus would be a non-statutory area. It is part of the amendment we are discussing and therefore it is a relevant point. It sounds as if it was a counterproductive day for those people who went along to the university to check it out and then to had that experience. The reason I cannot prescribe such a provision in the Bill is that if I was to prescribe the location the Senator proposed and not prescribe other locations, it would raise a question regarding the status of the non-prescribed locations. If I was to start prescribing locations, I would end up limiting the power of the NTA in terms of a code of practice that it may issue in the future. As I said to Senator O'Neill, I genuinely believe that the matter Senator Brennan raised is better dealt with through the power that the NTA would have.

The Senator made a point on what was a common theme in some of the contributions on Second Stage, namely, where the signage should be located and the messages on it. Those are the issues I hope the National Transport Authority, NTA, will be able to address with the powers given to it in this Bill and measures such as a code of practice for the industry. I accept the importance of the Senator's point, which feeds back to the way we regulate non-statutory areas, but the best way to deal with that is through the powers provided to the NTA in the Bill.