Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

I thank the Minister for his courtesy and co-operation regarding a number of amendments and in dealing with the Bill in general. The Bill is worthwhile legislation. My only concern is that with regard to such legislation relating to framework issues in European Union countries we seem to have some difficulty from time to time aligning the provisions among the countries. While the purpose of this legislation is to ensure that fugitives do not escape justice by fleeing to another country, there are nevertheless some instances whereby the manner in which legislation has been introduced makes it difficult to prevent some fugitives from taking refuge in another country and being dealt with in a proper fashion. I suggest the Minister raise the issue at the Council of Ministers to allow for some supervisory structure to enable these EU provisions to be implemented in domestic legislation. I thank the Minister.

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