Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I am glad of the opportunity to discuss this very important motion and to put on record that I will strongly oppose it. It is a sad day for democracy, human rights and wider society that at this historic and important time when we are making an effort to come to the end of a long conflict on the island and conflict resolution is in process there are people who want to introduce draconian legislation. That is illogical and does not make sense. It is a disgrace.

For any citizen and democrat, repressive legislation is not the way forward. If we are serious about protecting human and civil rights and if we are lecturing other nations on this issue, everybody should stand up and be counted and vote against this motion and this legislation.

We have read in recent days the scandal of the Morris tribunal, corruption among senior gardaí, bad leadership, disastrous management and blatant scandal within the force. This is not acceptable. Yet the Government proposes to introduce more repressive legislation.

It might not be trendy or fashionable to do this and I accept there is a strong law and order element in this House, but I challenge the Government on this issue. It should always be vigilant in regard to civil liberties and human rights. There have been miscarriage of justice cases in the past because of repressive legislation. There were the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four cases. In America there is the Miami Five case where five Cubans are in jail because they tried to stop violence being perpetrated against their country. I urge caution in introducing legislation such as this that will damage the integrity of our justice system.

There have also been many other cases such as the McBrearty case. I have also dealt with the Danny Doherty case and recently in my constituency the Peter Preston case. These issues are all very relevant to this debate. A number of Deputies referred to the case of James Sheehan from West Commons, Ardfert and the incident that happened on 17 August 1989. There are serious questions to be asked about the incident where it is alleged that a gun had been found in Mr. Sheehan's car and he was arrested under section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939. I understand this file was sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions but subsequently no prosecution ensued. There is also a major debate about the question of the missing gun. What happened to it and why and when was it destroyed? It would be fairly obvious to any objective person who read about this case that it is a disgrace that this person was set up in this way and that people got away with that.

It is also a disgrace that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform hides his head in the sand when it comes to dealing with these issues. It is all very well to go to parliamentary party meetings and have a major row about café bars but why is he not dealing with the serious issues of miscarriages of justice, injustice in our justice system and corruption among members of senior management of the Garda? These issues must be dealt with.

I challenge the Minister of State and the Government in this regard. If Members are serious about democracy, human rights and ensuring respect for the State and its citizens, they must come out strongly against the Offences against the State Act as there have been incidents where this legislation has been damning.

History has proved that repressive legislation does not work. Despite many who are cynical about this issue, it does not work. It makes the position worse. If we are serious about ending conflict and political violence, the way forward is political dialogue and inclusive negotiations. We should get on with that. That strengthens democracy. When we start using the law to back up a State and sections of it, it is repressive law and it does not work. Surely we have learnt from the history of what happened in the Six Counties over the past 30 years. Surely we have learnt from incidents of human rights abuses in Britain to which I referred. Members should be cautious of political parties and the political establishment supporting this legislation. I urge Members to reject it.

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