Mark Daly (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are concerned about this section. I suggest that the Minister and his officials would examine the wording if he is not willing to accept the Committee Stage amendment. A definition of "small" would be helpful for the Minister and future Ministers because we could do without a tribunal where somebody's definition of small was €500,000 and then somebody else's definition was €10 million and then someone else said €100 million is small. Donald Trump would argue that $500 million would be small money.

The current wording is, "if the Minister considers that on account of the small tonnage or value of the minerals concerned it is expedient and efficient to do so". There needs to be some definition of "small". I looked through the definition section and I do not think "small" is defined in the legislation, which means it is based on the opinion of the Minister. It would be appropriate that the Department would provide some guidelines. I do not suggest regulations because then the Minister could change his own regulations. Not having a definition of "small" is poor drafting. It would mean any Minister could just say it was his or her version of small tonnage or value.We have had too many tribunals that resulted from the fact that legislation did not exist or was not strong or robust enough. We must ensure it is clear what is meant by "small". In legislative terms it is far too vague.