Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

We live in a State with a constitution. All organs of the State are bound to uphold the Constitution and its values, and to act in a manner both consonant with it and demonstrably constitutional in every respect. That is not written into every statute but it is a fundamental rule of our law that every body created by law, and every organ under the Constitution, is bound by a fundamental duty to uphold the Constitution. This entails implementing constitutional values and working towards the achievement of constitutional aims.

Article 40.3.1 of the Constitution states "The State guarantees in its laws to respect ... and vindicate the rights of the citizen." That is a fundamental duty of every organ of the State. It applies to the Garda Síochána, the Army, the Oireachtas and the courts. That duty to uphold the rights of the citizen imbues every statutory creature this House brings into being.

No body established under our statute is independent of, or free from, the duty to uphold the Constitution or the duty of the State to protect and vindicate the rights of the citizen. That obligation goes further in regard to fundamental rights and involves citizens and non-citizens alike. The State must vindicate the fundamental rights of those present in our country regardless of whether they are citizens.

It gives me some pleasure to say that the source from which most of section 7 emanates is the Northern Ireland Police Act 1998.

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