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

A period of 21 days is the standard number of days for payment of a fixed payment notice for similar offences under the Maritime Safety Act, the Merchant Shipping Act, the Shannon Navigation Act and the Harbours Act. The fixed payment provision is not a new provision having already been provided for in section 56 of the Maritime Safety Act, which amended the Canals Act 1986. We are trying to be consistent here. The advice is that variants would be confusing and inconsistent with other provisions within this Bill. I take the Senator's point but for the sake of uniformity it should be left at 21 days. If a person pays a fine by credit card and their credit card payments are up to date, they will get a month's credit on top of it.