David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for accepting the four amendments in the names of myself and Senator Ó Domhnaill. I am glad she has done so. It is a good day's work and shows the engagement and involvement of the Seanad.

The Government's amendment No. 19 by and large reflects the spirit of our amendment. The Minister says amendment No. 25 is redundant because the notice is already published. That is not actually the case until the Government's amendment is passed. I get the feeling that the Government was pushed to an extent by the existence of our amendment No. 25 and it is for that reason that it is publishing the notice. That is very welcome because that shows a certain degree of collegiality between the Minister and Seanad Éireann.

However, amendment No. 25(iii) now reads to: "provide to authorised officers for presentation on request for reference purposes a copy, either hard copy or copy by electronic transmission by smart phone, iPad, etc., of the bye laws in the event of a bye law issue being raised by the authorised officer." This is a change from our proposal on Committee Stage because then the Minister said that the authorised officers could not be expected to hump around an enormous book all the time. Our response was that it is the modern age, there are iPads and smartphones and so on, and it would be no great imposition to have the authorised officers carry the regulations on their smartphones.

The Minister makes quite a good point about gardaí not having to produce the Statute Book of Saorstát Éireann and the Republic of Ireland which would be very onerous. However, this was a situation that was established before the existence of smartphones, iPhones and iPads and so on, and now that we have these things, it is not too much to expect that regulations be uploaded onto the smartphone of any authorised officer. For the sake of convenience, it would be a very good idea if someone is being charged with an offence, that the officer can just turn on the phone and show the person the exact section of the code under which he or she is being charged. It is not onerous.

We have listened to the Minister's argument and changed this amendment and it is perfectly reasonable to expect an authorised officer to have the by-laws on a smartphone. The by-laws of the canals of Ireland are nothing like as extensive as the enormous collection of statute books that a garda would be required to carry around in similar circumstances, had I introduced an amendment covering the Garda. I do not think that is fair and I am inclined to stick on this. I am interested in what my colleague, Senator Ó Domhnaill, thinks, what his arguments are and if he has any additional information to add to this if the spirit moves him to contribute. It seems a perfectly reasonable thing to do. When the Minister returns, I will listen to her or any of my other colleagues on either side of the argument and then I will make a decision on whether to pull a vote on it.