Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

——and dissident groups and others who are endeavouring to disrupt the peace process and to continue their criminal activities. That is what this is designed to address.

I thank the Members opposite who have supported it. Given its nature, the structure on which it is based and the fact that it must come before the House in a resolution, it is important that Members of the Opposition share the views expressed by the Minister, the Department and the Garda Síochána. It is clear that there are significant issues still to be dealt with in this State, whether we like it or not.

We are working with the PSNI, particularly in the case of Mr. Paul Quinn referred to earlier, to find the people responsible. I do not accept for one minute any suggestion that the Government has made an assessment on its own in this regard. The Garda and the PSNI are solidly of the view that the murder of Mr. Quinn was not a sanctioned IRA activity and this has been confirmed by the Independent Monitoring Commission.

Returning to the Act, its provisions have been used on 800 occasions over the past 12 months, which is significant. Some 34 convictions have been obtained during that same period and 154 persons are currently awaiting trial. Those figures alone demonstrate that there is a need for these provisions to continue in operation.

As I stated earlier, the dissident republican groups are very active and ruthless in their determination. One need only consider some of the recent incidents that have taken place. There was one incident earlier this month and the attack on the two PSNI officers previously. The IMC's recent report refers to actions attributed to dissident groups, including murder, a pipe-bomb attack, a number of shootings and assaults. The Garda Síochána has intelligence that these dissident groups are still very active. As Minister, I can confirm that this is the position. The Garda has made a number of recent arrests of individuals in connection with dissident terrorist activities and we want to continue to resource the Garda to ensure that it can continue that fight.

The State and the Oireachtas has a responsibility to protect our citizens. In an ideal world, we would not like to have this type of legislation. Unfortunately, we do not live in an ideal world because of the continued terrorist threat. The effort by those terrorists to destabilise the peace process that has been put in place on this island is ever present. I strongly urge the House to back this motion. I thank the parties who support the continuation of this legislation.

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