Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The principle of police services across Europe and internationally co-operating is welcome to combat the dangers posed by trafficking, drugs, security threats and so on. There is a range of areas in which it is necessary to have co-operation. The only issues that arise revole around the civil liberty aspect. Different data protection laws apply in different states. There are different legal frameworks in terms of the rights of an accused person and differing definitions of crime in different states. It is important to get a sense of how, for example, the rights of Irish citizens will be protected vis-à-visthe rights of citizens in another state. These are the only issues on which I seek clarification, but I support the principle of An Garda Síochána co-operating with other police forces to combat the collective threats to the peoples of the different states involved.