Ciarán Cuffe (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)

I may have misheard the Tánaiste but he said he was determined to leave no stone unturned. Given the rapidity with which he is progressing this legislation, there is deep seated concern and unease at his efforts to play to the gallery on the crime issue. It is farcical on his part to rush this legislation while amending his own proposals on the hoof, particularly when the Hogan report has not been considered in detail. By not waiting to consider the balance in the criminal law review group's report, this will institutionalise the concept of putting the cart before the horse.

The Green Party has major concerns about the legislation and its provision for a seven-day detention period, amendments to the bail laws and the right to silence and electronic tagging. We should move slower on these issues. Discussing a seven-day detention when Mr. Justice Morris's tribunal has not concluded and, therefore, granting the Garda such significant authority when its authority has been called into question does not make sense.

A pilot project on electronic tagging should be implemented before the section is enacted. The provision is at odds with the Tánaiste's reply to a parliamentary question last year, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh highlighted. The Tánaiste stated the section would only apply to serious offences but the evidence from abroad is tagging does not work for such offences. He is not heading in the right direction on this issue and there is an absence of commitment to good, old fashioned policing methods. I am deeply worried at the bulk of the provisions in the legislation and I, therefore, oppose the section.

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