Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 have been proposed by the Office of the Attorney General for inclusion in the Bill in order to make it clear in statute what is, in practice, a constitutional protection. The amendments provide that a statement or admission made by a person pursuant to a direction during an inquiry under section 12 and proposed section 13A of the principal Act, in relation to a proposed removal, will not be admissible as evidence in proceedings brought against that person for an offence, other than an offence under the particular sections themselves. Sections 12(5) and 13A(6) create offences for failure to co-operate with the inquiries. Amendments Nos. 3 and 4 are purely technical amendments which change the numbering of the provisions in proposed section 13A to accommodate the new subsection (7).