Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

I move amendmentNo. 24:

In page 8, to delete lines 30 to 38.

It is good to see that at least one of the amendments survived. The intention is to remove the section which allows for the outsourcing of some of the classes of work the Tánaiste has outlined in this Bill. As far as I remember, it is the Tánaiste's hope that electronic tagging would be outsourced and that he could prescribe or authorise a person to carry out that duty. On Committee Stage I argued that such a person should be at least in the employ of the State, preferably of the probation and welfare service, but the Tánaiste rightly said a probation and welfare officer would not be the correct person to carry out such duties. I argued at the time that it should be somebody employed by the service but not necessarily somebody who is of the same grade as the probabation and welfare officer. They should be answerable to the service. He or she would be an employee of the State and as such would be answerable to his or her employer in all aspects. What happens in other jurisdictions is that people involved in these services compete against others who tender for the work and the cheapest possible option is sought. The conditions of work and pay of such workers is not conducive to good practices. We should not go down that route of outsourcing and privatising any part of the justice system because of its importance and because of the need for the State to ensure justice is delivered fully and that the service is fully accountable to the State and the Minister.

I have made this point about a number of services such as the prisoner escort service. I know the Minister does not agree with my view but I have tried once again to outline the reason we should not go down this road. I note a number of other faults in this section of the Bill and most of my amendments have probably been ruled out of order because they were discussed on Committee Stage. However, due to the short-circuiting of the debate and its truncated nature I do not believe we had enough time to tease out the implications of some of the practical points even though there was some discussion of the major points. The short-circuiting of the debate has not allowed the House enough time to cross-examine the Bill in detail and to allow for the observations of others, including the professionals who operate in the various fields affected by this legislation. The observations and opinions of practitioners such as the Garda Síochána, the Irish Prison Service, the probation and welfare service, which will have to work with people in the private sector, should be considered. This Bill will result in major changes in the justice system but the Minister's approach of fast-tracking it through the House is fundamentally flawed. I am glad of the extra time which we have managed to wrangle out of the Minister but there has not been sufficient time and this will become evident in future when the Bill is put to the test.

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