Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I would not be disposed to reconsider. The legal advice I have is that any determination made on the proposals suggested in the amendment would be unenforceable, so I would be inviting people to participate in a piece of legal machinery which, when they test it in the courts, is likely to prove unenforceable. I would be letting people down if I agreed to an amendment that might have superficial attractions but collapsed when it came to be tested in the courts. Given that we are trying to improve or simplify the procedure, we would be serving nobody's interests if we invited them along a path that would ultimately end in failure with their case being dismissed. I know Senator Barrett is attempting to be helpful but, based on the advice available to me, I cannot really see that I would be doing anyone a service if I did that.

Senator Craughwell said that one does no harm by repeating offences that are found elsewhere in legislation. If we appended to legislation everything one could conceivably think of, we would have rakes of company law and other forms of law in here. I do not think the Office of Parliamentary Counsel would thank us for asking it to draft stuff that was entirely superfluous. I do not think that is a route we should be encouraged to go down. I do not think these positions are sustainable against the sort of very strenuous legal advice that I am receiving. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to accept the amendments.