There are other practical difficulties with the amendment such as when the doctor would certify the offender as unfit to comply and at what point would that certification be lifted. It would be normal practice to excuse an offender who did not comply with reporting to the gardaí while on temporary release from prison, for example, where evidence of detention in hospital was produced. I have no reason to believe that the gardaí will not exercise similarly appropriate discretion in the case of offenders subject to the notification requirements in the same way. To do otherwise would be to risk wasting court time with unnecessary prosecutions for non-compliance.
This is not the kind of provision normally found in legislation. I am informed by the Parliamentary Counsel that acceptance of the amendment could therefore have implications for how other legislation is interpreted. Following detailed consideration of what acceptance of the amendment might entail, I find unfortunately that I am unable to accept it.