I am asking the Committee to accept the amendments carried in the Seanad to the Enforcement of Law (Occasional Powers) Bill. Amendment 1 reads as follows:—
In Section 3, the words "immediately upon entry and before seizure" deleted in lines 23-24, and the following words substituted therefor "at any time after entering and before the removal of any property seized."
This amendment was accepted by me in the Seanad in response to a suggestion that a person may be absent from his home, and on coming back to it may find that property had been seized but not actually removed; that the official act of seizure or taking custody of the property would have been complete but that the removal would not be complete and on a strict reading of the Bill, in such a set of circumstances, it was not mandatory on the sheriff's officers to produce their authority. I accepted, therefore, the suggestion contained in the amendment. The suggested words are just a little broader, and provide for that particular situation outlined as a possibility.