Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The intention in section 17 is to impose a mandatory requirement on the controller to keep certain records. Records must be kept of all KDB applications, KDB certificates issued, KDB certificates refused and KDB applications under review. The section also requires the controller to respect confidential information filed with KDB applications and he, in this case, must not publicly disclose such information. Disclosure of information of a commercially sensitive nature would harm the applicant in the context of giving vital information to competitors.

Senator Mac Lochlainn's amendment seeks to delete the words "as he or she considers appropriate" from section 17(1). If the Senator's concern is that the controller is given a level of discretion that will allow him not to maintain certain of the records listed in section 17(1)(a) to (d), that is not the case. The subsection lists the mandatory sets of records that must be kept by the controller, if that is the Senator's concern. While I am not accepting the amendment, I am prepared to review the precise drafting of the section and to revert to the issue on Report Stage in the House.