Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

I acknowledge what the Minister has said and I believe this legislation can be agreed upon. Fine Gael has no difficulty with the point involved. I accept what the Minister says and I hope the Bill can be passed this evening.

This Bill is neither long nor complex. Its purpose is simply to rectify the incompatibility of the Prisons Act 2007 with the Criminal Justice Act 2007 in respect of recognisances for the purposes of a bail application. However, it is quite significant in respect of its broader implications. During the 29th Dáil the Government bulldozed through an unprecedented volume of legislation in the area of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. It is true that an overhaul of justice legislation was long overdue but the speed at which justice Bills passed through the Houses of the Oireachtas during the last Dáil flew in the face of democratic norms and what could be considered best practice.

Over the past ten years, Fianna Fáil and its Government partners have proven to be very adept at sidelining Parliament and the Legislature as much as possible, thereby allowing the Executive and the Minister of the day to have virtual free rein. These developments are anti-democratic and represent a most unfair treatment of the Legislature by the Executive and, in my view, represent an abuse of the parliamentary process. As long as the Executive seeks to remove itself and its proposed legislation from parliamentary scrutiny, more and more we will find ourselves in the House late at night to rush through emergency legislation to correct errors and omissions which would have been picked up if due process had been followed initially. Already this year the Government has rushed through emergency legislation to close a loophole to protect children. There was this loophole because the original legislation was not properly debated or adequately scrutinised.

The large size and complexity of most justice Acts passed during the past five years necessitated careful and detailed scrutiny. However, on a regular basis we saw the debate on legislation being guillotined or restricted. The former Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Michael McDowell, garnered a dubious reputation for introducing volumes of amendments to justice Bills only hours before they were to be debated on the floor of the House. This left little time for detailed or adequate scrutiny. Whether it was intended or inadvertent, it had serious consequences for the power, role and function of Parliament. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, differs from his predecessor. These practices must be brought to an end for the currency of this Dáil. It is time best practice was restored to the democratic procedures of the House.

Fine Gael is not willing to tolerate or agree to the use of the guillotine or time restrictions, unless the matter in question does not necessitate a lengthy period of debate. We are not willing to sit and watch while, repeatedly, the debate on legislation is guillotined, preventing adequate debate and proper scrutiny. The dangers inherent in rushed legislation were highlighted twice this year. Earlier this month an eminent senior counsel and leading criminal law barrister, Mr. Michael O'Higgins, warned that large portions of the Criminal Justice Act 2007 would result in a serious diminution of human rights. While he predicted the Act would result in more guilty people being convicted, he also stated more innocent people would be convicted. If that is the case, it will have serious consequences for us as legislators. The Law Society of Ireland and the Irish Human Rights Commission are among other bodies which expressed concerns about aspects of the Act. It is serious that a host of leading criminal justice experts voiced such grave concerns about the Act, sections of which are only now beginning to have practical effect. It is worrying that their warnings went unheeded and we are left with draconian legislation, the value of which is dubious and which has, according to many, the capacity to have dangerous consequences.

The reason the Bill is before us is to restrict the necessity for District Court judges to individually adjudicate on and sign the recognisance documentation on all bail applications. Much inconvenience has already been visited upon prison staff and escort managers. It is right, therefore, that we should revert to the pre-2007 position and matters be put right at the earliest opportunity.

As the raft of justice legislation introduced in recent years is tested, we are likely to run into more and more difficulties such as problems relating to the incompatibility of new legislation with existing legislation and with the impact of many measures on the rights of citizens. Perhaps the biggest challenge for the Government which must stand over its legislative output will be whether Acts such as the Criminal Justice Act will be effective in reducing crime levels. To date, the signs are not promising. How many anti-social behaviour orders introduced under the Criminal Justice Act 2006 have been handed down to date? Where is the evidence that such measures have been effective in tackling anti-social behaviour? The courts were empowered to hand down ASBOs as and from 1 January this year. I am interested to hear how effective the Minister believes the orders have been in reducing incidents of anti-social behaviour in the many communities which suffer due to the Government's failures in this area.

Recently the codification of the criminal law was referred to by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He noted the idea of initiating a project to codify the Courts Acts had been mooted for many years but had not been acted on. I welcome his admission that Governments in the past ten years had failed to take appropriate action in this area. He also referred to the Department's enthusiasm for a 2004 proposal from the Law Reform Commission to co-operate in undertaking this task. The time has come to begin this complex but extremely important task and we should do so during this Dáil. It is three years since the commission generously undertook to assist the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform in this initiative. We have waited long enough to accept that offer of help. Matters should be progressed.

We are here to rush through legislation to close a loophole which would not have been there if the Act was debated appropriately when it was brought before the House earlier this year prior to the general election. During the past ten years successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments showed a disdain for the procedures of Parliament. Use of the guillotine was invoked repeatedly by the Government to hinder scrutiny of its proposed legislation. This results in stifled debate.

The Leas-Cheann Comhairle's superior, the Ceann Comhairle, embarked upon a programme of——

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