Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

The amendments relate to the extension of powers and the proposal is to extend them to the GSOC. The reason the Revenue Commissioners and the Defence Forces are included is in the fight against drug crime, in particular, the Garda, the Naval Service and the Revenue Commissioners through its customs and excise division operate together on a multi-agency basis. Under its legislation, the GSOC's remit is restricted. This legislation is designed to tackle arrestable crime, crime with a sentence of five years or more and serious crime. I do not say gardaí are not capable of serious crime but we are examining amendments to the ombudsman commission's Act in conjunction with requests from the commission and we are discussing them with the Garda, which has views in this regard. There might be an opportunity on another occasion to examine the extension because, in principle, I do not have a major issue with it but this is not the right time because the main focus of the legislation is on organised crime.

I welcome Deputy Noonan's comments. While we were criticised for not bringing the legislation forward earlier, he is absolutely correct that the Bill provides for invasive surveillance, which infringes on people's privacy. With regard to his comment on the 72-hour provision, the superior officer must be satisfied under section 7(3) with the grounds for believing that an authorisation should be issued by a District Court judge. He or she under section 7(11) must report to an assistant commissioner not later than seven days afterwards specifying the grounds on which the 72-hour approval was granted, including providing a copy of the written record of approval and a summary of the results of the surveillance. While the Deputy is entitled to his view, I have provided for proper checks and balances in respect of his provision because it must be accepted if the situation is urgent, the Garda should have the ability to act in an urgent manner, provided it does so in a proportionate way.

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