James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 50 proposes an amendment to section 201B to take account of changes made to section 201A(1) before publication of the Bill. Prior to publication, section 201A(1) of the 2001 Act was revised to state to "the director may impose" instead of "the director shall impose", clearly offering more discretion. The existing wording of section 201B requiring a sanction to have been imposed for a child to petition the Minister is no longer appropriate. It is proposed, therefore, to amend the wording of section 201B(1) to make it consistent with a discretion of the director rather than an obligation of the director to impose a sanction in section 201A.

Amendment No. 51 proposes an amendment to section 201B(2). In the published Bill, the existing provision refers to the Minister affirming, modifying, suspending or revoking the sanction only. I believe it should more appropriately refer to the actions that may be taken by the Minister in respect of the finding and sanction, as either of these may be the subject of a petition. The amendments proposed to section 201B(2) will provide that where the finding of the director is a subject of the petition, the Minister may affirm, modify or revoke the sanction. Where the sanction imposed by the director is the subject of the petition, the Minister may affirm, modify, suspend or revoke the sanction. The amendment to section 201B(2) would achieve what is proposed by amendment No. 52, that is, to insert "and/or finding" after "sanction". I do not propose, therefore, to accept amendment No. 52.