David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Senator Norris raised the issue of there being no sanction in this. This was done deliberately because what we are trying to do is to get the Minister to agree to the principle of an "offence". If that is agreed we can come back on Report Stage and consider an agreed sanction. We deliberately left out a sanction on the basis that we would ask the Minister to look at the issue as a stand-alone issue. This is an important issue, which has been raised by TENI. These are all sensitive issues and if the Minister agrees that we could consider a new section that would make it an offence to disclose information, he could then come back with recommendations in regard to what he would consider would be an appropriate sanction.