I move amendment 2 :—
" To delete the section."
It will be seen that I have another amendment if this is not carried. My feeling about this section is that though it is clear that the Minister's intention is to safeguard the rights of the State in the matter of money and, perhaps, incidentally to give a greater assurance that fishermen who apply will get the loans more freely, because the section imposes a severe penalty for breach of the conditions, I nevertheless think that we are introducing a very important new principle into this class of legislation. Firstly, we are asking the Seanad to indicate the fine which a person would be liable to on summary conviction in respect of a breach of contract of a particular type between an individual and the Society. But the Seanad officially knows nothing of the class of contract or the terms of the contract a breach of which would involve this penalty. I think that it is not right that the Legislature should be asked to impose inferentially a penalty upon a person for breaking a contract about which it knows nothing. Secondly, there is, as I think, a very big principle involved in the section itself which lays down the penalty for a breach of a contract between an individual and a voluntary association which is not a statutory association and which is not subject to the control of Parliament except very indirectly. I think that the principle involved in that is one which may be sought for by other organisations. We have had, for instance, public notice of a Private Bill being introduced by hairdressers to form a hairdressers' guild. I can imagine the Hairdressers' Association trying to introduce into their Private Bill a provision that if anything in the agreement between the individual hairdresser and the Association is broken the individual shall be subject to a penalty in the Court of £20. There are many other private associations being formed of one kind or another, some with State assistance and encouragement, and some entirely independent of the State. Here we have, in effect, a co-operative organisation which is an association of individual members. The members make a contract with the Association, which contract may be varied according as the rules may be altered, though in respect of the particular contract referred to here it can only be by consent of the Minister for Fisheries. If there is a breach by the individual of the terms of that contract, we are making that individual liable to a penalty in the Courts. It is not only a civil liability, it is a breach of contract which involves damages at law.
