Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour)

None of us ever expected the day would come when we would be asked to declare or admit that the ordinary courts of the land are not adequate to deal with the administration of justice. The jury trial is a cornerstone of the criminal justice system. I am concerned about the question of constitutionality. We have incorporated the European Convention on Human Rights into legislation. Serious constitutional questions arise but what concerns me above all is the anecdotal fashion in which Minister has presented his case. If this and the other House are being asked to make a declaration that the Special Criminal Court will not be the means by which the administration of justice will operate, then we should have heard more than anecdotal evidence. Expert evidence should have been presented. The Garda should has appeared before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Equality Defence and Women's Rights. The evidence, which according to the Minister exists but cannot be produced, should have been put on record. I could equally outline anecdotal evidence to the contrary.

I represent the consistency of Dublin Central which includes the north inner city where there is a significant amount of gangland crime, especially drug-related shootings. I am a member of the local drugs task force and I chair the supply control drugs committee on the community policing forum. We have been asked questions about policing, about the courts, about the prisons and on no occasion has there been a call that we would abolish the juries. This is where the Minister's case falls down.

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