Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

That is where it comes from. Into that section we inserted the provision "In performing its functions, the Garda Síochána shall have regard to the importance of upholding human rights." If subsection (4) had been transposed and made subsection (1), and the first thing stated regarding the functions of the Garda Síochána had been that "In performing its functions, the Garda Síochána shall have regard to the importance of upholding human rights", I do not think that we would be having this debate. However, because we took the Northern Ireland functions and added a few to them, with a new clause not present in the Northern Ireland Bill, it is somehow implied that we are downgrading the vindication of human rights in our society.

I do not agree with that. It is because the draftsman carefully inserted into this Bill that in doing everything, whether regulating road traffic, preventing crime, protecting the State's security, keeping peace and public order or bringing criminals to justice, "the Garda Síochána shall have regard to the importance of upholding human rights". That is across the board and a value explicitly stated in this statute. From that point of view, the draftsman got it right.

I can understand where Deputy Jim O'Keeffe's amendment comes from, but the objective is not to respect human rights. Respecting human rights is a constant value with which one must imbue all one's activities. Perhaps that is a matter of semantics, but there is no great division in principle. The law, as proposed in this Bill, does not dismiss human rights or downgrade them. It states that they will be an important duty for the Garda Síochána.

I ask the Deputies to consider section 15, which provides——

See this speech in context