Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghlacadh leis na Teachtaí a ghlac páirt sa díospóireacht. Deputy Jim O'Keeffe indicated his general support for the provisions to address the issue of international crime. He queried the effectiveness of the proposals, particularly what would happen if there were not an expeditious response from a member state. My understanding is that several timescales are provided for regarding various kinds of information. Normal procedures would apply on a failure to comply with EU provisions, such as recourse to the European Court of Justice. If the situation is different I will return to the Deputy. The Deputy also pointed out that in many continental countries the system of justice is quite different. Having a framework of this nature will be an advantage with regard to that issue. He is concerned that the plea of national security might be used as a reason for not co-operating in circumstances where it would not be justified. Ultimately that will have to decided upon if the matter were referred to, say, the European Court of Justice.

All Members who spoke on the motion raised the issue of the confidentiality of information and the capacity of the receiving member state to abide by the requirements. Several Members made a political point on this to which I am not in a position to respond. In my view, however, the authorities in the State have proved themselves capable of dealing with confidential information——

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