Dáil debates

Thursday, 30 April 2009

Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill 2009: Second Stage (Resumed)

 

10:30 am

Photo of Paul Connaughton  SnrPaul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

Like previous speakers, I welcome this Bill. Fine Gael welcomes the introduction of measures to deal with some of society's most serious problems. Having listened to a good few Deputies speaking on this legislation, it appears that it is getting universal approval.

The most shocking statistic I have heard is that the perpetrators of just 12% of the fatal shootings that have taken place over the past 11 years have been brought to justice. It is obvious that the efforts that have been made to apprehend such people have not been successful. The insidious intimidation of people in the heartlands of Dublin and Limerick is now spreading all over the country. Intimidation is a dreadful thing when it gets into people's minds. A ripple effect makes people afraid to trust even those who live beside them. We know about intimidation following the Troubles in Northern Ireland but the intimidation now is insidious and getting worse by the hour.

Like every other legislator here I believe in the rule of law, the book of evidence, the jury system and so on. The problem is that many involved in the sort of crime for which this legislation is intended successfully spread rumours saying they think someone rang the Garda Síochána confidential line, irrespective of whether anyone did. I hope that none of us will ever be subject to this kind of intimidation. We have a responsibility to protect people who are good, just and genuinely want to do well. They are to be found everywhere, even in the heart of gangland slums. We do not give enough time in this House to the psychology used in those areas to frighten the living daylights out of people. People saw on television the person in Limerick giving the fingers to everybody. He was a young fellow whose name I forget but I will never forget that image, which said that as far as he and his friends are concerned, they care for nobody.

Any interference with the jury system is very serious because we are proud of that system and most of the time it works very well. Once the people at whom this legislation is aimed cross the line in the sand we must do much more than is contained in this Bill. I agree entirely with the contents of the Bill but the minute we talk about bugging devices and so on we can rest assured that the people on whom they will be used will use the same system or a more sophisticated one to block those devices. The thugs have the money and are able to pay for the brains. They would not do it themselves. They are going through the legislation line by line, as we speak. They might not be able to defeat it legally, or at least I hope not. I hope the legislation will hold up. I am not a legal expert so I can only believe what I am told in that regard.

It is right that the Garda, the Defence Forces and the Revenue Commissioners should be able to do these things now because we have a serious problem. They will, for instance, be able to break into houses or other buildings and put in all sorts of state-of-the-art bugging devices. It is possible that the flower pot will have a bug in it and the bed post might have one.

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