Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Okay, I am a Member of the Oireachtas. My point is that these things could be very serious. A garda could impart a piece of tittle-tattle which has no serious consequence, and the Garda Síochána Act was specifically and carefully crafted to state that it had to have very serious adverse consequences before an offence would be committed. In this case, however, it is not necessary to have a fertile imagination to see that disclosure of this type of material almost certainly would have serious adverse consequences for people. My point, which I made on Second Stage and which the amendment is designed to address, is that if there is no workable sanction it is simply window dressing to provide for a summary offence because people can ignore the law and tell gardaí to get lost and get out of the house and that they have nothing further to say to them. If there is no adequate sanction for this, it will affect the frequency of offences. If there is a substantial penalty and a substantial likelihood that if one commits a serious offence here one will be arrested and questioned in a Garda station, one will think a great deal longer than if one thought it was only a matter of politely telling a garda that one has nothing further to say and one wants to go back in to finish one's meal. That is my point.