Helen McEntee (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This amendment is similar to another amendment the Senator tabled to section 41 on the prohibition of canvassing. We need to ask the question as to how far we should go. We have tried to clearly state that anybody who is working on the commission or working in an office who is part of the overall process should not share that information or be careless such as leaving it on the bus or even to be bringing some of this home in a bag on the bus. They should not be so careless with information that I would deem as important - I am sure the Senator would also deem it as important. There are very clear penalties here - a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both.

We have made it clear that the fault will lie with the people who have the information, who are dealing with the information or who are processing the information. At the moment information can make its way to the media even though it should not be there. However, we do not criminalise or sanction newspapers, radio or television. Where that is the case, the fault lies squarely with Members of the Houses. That is what we are applying here. The same applies to the later amendment on canvassing. How far out should we go in this regard? I believe what we have here should be prohibitive enough for those on the commission or working in an office who will be handling this paper. It should ensure they are careful with the information they have and that they do not leave it on a bus, to use the Senator's example, or that they do not leak it to somebody else.

While there will be a team of people working here, it will be a small group of people. It will not be 100 people who will be engaging in this. It will be the commission, those working in that office and those who are there to support it. Being able to identify if there was a leak or if somebody goes directly to a paper is probably something that can be done. It is just to look at how far out we should go. I believe that what we have here, a fine of €50,000 and imprisonment of up to five years - I hope we would never get to the point where that would actually happen - is sufficient to prevent somebody from leaking this or to prevent somebody from mishandling or not being careful with the information that they have because it is obviously very sensitive information to start with.