Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I am more interested in increasing the human contact between the offender and the State. Introducing electronic tagging at this stage would run the risk of creating greater divisions in society.

With regard to the requirements for firearms certificates, I take the point the game councils make, namely, that they are being tarred with the same brush by being sluiced into the Bill. While the Minister may have valid reasons for incorporating this matter into the Bill, I hope he would at least engage in dialogue with the game councils to alleviate their concerns. I assume the Minister is trying to ensure that any firearms in the public domain are kept under lock and key and that children in particular are not put at risk or able to access firearms as easily as they might be at present. If this is the case, I welcome the measure but it would be useful to have some inkling of the further regulations the Minister might introduce in this area. The Minister's legislative record shows that he introduces much detail on Committee Stage and more detail in regulations. It would be no harm to get a flavour of what will come down the line prior to looking for permission from the House to approve it.

It is a mixed Bill. It is hard to see through the detail to its inception or to ascertain exactly what knock-on effect the Bill will have. However, I am deeply concerned at giving the Garda Síochána increased powers of detention at a time when the public seek more gardaí on the streets rather than the locking up for longer periods of those taken into custody.

See this speech in context