Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These are very specific provisions tied to the operation of the by-laws, and expertise in the operation of these by-laws lies in the staff of Waterways Ireland. The officers executing a search warrant have to go to court to get a search warrant before they can execute it. That will allay some of the fears around search warrants. They will go to court to ask for search warrants on the basis of breaches of the canal by-laws. A judge would have to be satisfied, based on the sworn information of an authorised officer, that there are reasonable grounds granting a warrant. That is what this section is about.

Senator Norris said that if an officer does not automatically produce a search warrant that would invalidate the search. At that stage, he or she probably should have known that there was an issue and it should not come as a surprise because he or she would have had to go to court to get a search warrant.

I refer to amendment No. 1aai. It suggests that Waterways Ireland would need a search warrant to enter its canal property. That does not make sense.