James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I mentioned a few minutes ago that section 8 was being deleted. The amendment deletes section 8. Section 8 provided for an offence of making a false declaration or representation in obtaining registration for a profession or calling. An extensive review of the regulated professions in this State was undertaken by my officials and it became apparent those professions which maintain a statutory register for entry into the profession already provide for a carefully calibrated set of penalties or sanctions for this type of offence, together with appropriate practical consequences that flow from such behaviour or conduct in falsely obtaining registration for a particular profession. I consider it more appropriate that the existing relevant statutes and legal architecture across a range of health, social care and other specific roles requiring statutory registration in the State continue to provide for and deal with the matter of sanctioning the obtaining of false registration in such roles rather than doing so on a general level in this Bill, which would unnecessarily undermine the tailored approach that is already available to deal with those types of offences within those professions.