Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----to discover somebody else who was in the business of providing these services and presumably making a profit in providing them had acted in such a way that in the future they would not be in a position to find out who they were.It is an end to the humbug of Senators who want to claim they are in favour of children's rights and at the same time get annoyed with me for making the reasonable observation I have just made. Can we have an end to the humbug? It should be an offence.

If it is an offence to fail to comply with an inspection, it should be an offence to act in such a way that a person is deprived of the opportunity in the future to find out who he or she is. It should not be just at the stage when there is non-compliance with a court order, although that certainly should be an offence. If there is non-compliance with a court order, that is a clear demonstration of recklessness or intention to do wrong. My amendment proposes that it should be an offence if the obligation to comply with section 28 has not been complied with to the extent of causing the court to make an order under section 52(3). It should not be just at the late stage of failing to comply with a subsection 3 order. Let us remember we are not making it an offence if the clinic does not comply with the Minister's direction that it complies with its obligations under section 28.

The amendment proposes that if there has been a Circuit Court order requiring compliance, that is, if there is evidence that will give the Circuit Court the grounds required to make such an order, surely an offence is well grounded at that point? We are not talking about a vulnerable weak person being at the wrong end of the law in terms of what I am proposing in the amendment. It applies to a corporate entity, a money-making entity, an entity that is up and running and is in the business of providing these services. It must be hard to understand why the entity would not be compliant if it is in that business in the first place. That is the basis on which I am proposing that there is a well grounded offence if the Circuit Court gets to the point that it has to make an order requiring them to comply with their record keeping obligations under section 28.

This amendment proposes that they would be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or on conviction on indictment of a fine not exceeding €100,000. As I have said, if the Government is not to be in the pocket of the clinics and if this is not to be the light-touch regulation of the sperm banks, to go with the light-touch regulation of the banks that brought this economy into the mire, we will see change and we will see the Minister accepting this amendment.