Dr. T.J. McIntyre:

I could not tell the Deputy the position in other states generally. However, when the Policing Authority was established the Act which created it was the first Irish Act to define national security because it creates a carve-out: the Policing Authority oversees Garda functions only in the area of the criminal justice system, not national security functions. There is a definition that could be imported here which contains exclusions aimed at protecting freedom of expression and protest, for example, from national security exclusions.

The Deputy makes a very good point about how elastic that term is. It is a concern because the notion of serious crime is also very elastic. A serious crime under the heads of this Bill is one that is punishable by five years' imprisonment or more. That includes stealing a Mars bar or painting graffiti because theft and criminal damage each carry possible prison sentences of up to ten years. Mr. Justice Murray in his review was very critical of this and said by definition these types of offences, which could be tried either summarily or on indictment, when tried summarily are not serious offences and should not be included in this regime. There is a risk that this could be used as a pretext for a wider investigation, for example, if, as part of a political protest, graffiti, even chalk marks, were placed on a wall, that would be a serious offence sufficient to trigger the application of this legislation.