Sea-Fisheries (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2021: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2022-03-02
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Lynn Boylan (SF), Agricultural Panel

I move amendment No. 1:
In page 12, line 26, to delete “on the balance of probabilities” and substitute “beyond a reasonable doubt”.
From the Dáil debates the Minister will be aware that Sinn Féin's position is that we will not support the Bill. We are not opposed to a penalty points system but it must be a fair system. We do not believe that this scheme is. The amendment essentially comes down to "on the balance of probabilities" versus "beyond a reasonable doubt". I will address this issue further in later amendments but for the purposes of these amendments when we are talking about points and serious infringements, they must be considered on the basis of "beyond a reasonable doubt". That is the basis of any law. For this reason, I support these amendments and I oppose the presumption of "on the balance of probabilities", references to which are littered throughout the Bill.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-03-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:12+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-03-02