Séamus Kirk (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to make a few remarks on this legislation. We on this side of the House are very pleased that the new Government has decided quickly to bring forward Fianna Fáil's plan to deal with white collar crime. On the basis that the Bill proposed by the Minister, Deputy Shatter, remains true to our own proposals, we look forward to supporting it and helping its speedy passage through the Oireachtas.

The term "white collar crime" is now so deeply embedded in our legal, moral and social vocabularies that it cannot be abandoned. The main purpose of the Bill is to facilitate more effective investigation of white collar crime and to reduce associated delay. First and foremost, the former Minister of Justice, Equality and Law Reform and my constituency colleague, Dermot Ahern, announced that the then Government had approved the drafting of a white collar criminal Bill. Resulting from this is the Bill before us today. The Criminal Justice Bill of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, mirrors all of the key elements that were outlined by Fianna Fáil. A more collective approach in looking at the problem of white collar crime is needed across all parties in the House.

There are a number of elements of this Bill which we support, including the provision for detention for questioning. The existing law whereby a person may be detained for questioning by the Garda for a specified period will be amended to allow the period of detention to be broken into segments and the person released in the intervening periods. The Garda will be able to detain and question an individual for part of the period, release that person while the Garda makes further inquiries into what was said and then require the individual to return to the Garda station at a later stage for the continuation of his or her detention. The extent of data and the complexity of recent investigations have shown that it is not always possible to complete questioning and check facts in one period of detention. This element will be essential in future cases, aiding and assisting in investigations.

During recent investigations, large numbers of documents have been provided to the Garda without any effort to index the material or to certify the material in a manner that would allow their admissibility in court as evidence without the need for witnesses to prove them. The sheer volume of documentation to be sifted has been a source of serious delay. The Bill provides that where the District Court orders the production of material under that section, it may order the person to identify and categorise the material in a particular layout or manner.

On the issue of withholding information, a person who has information which he or she knows or believes might be of material assistance in preventing the commission by another person of a particular offence or in securing the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of another person for such an offence, and who fails without reasonable excuse to disclose such information as soon as practicable to the Garda Síochána, will be guilty of an offence. The offence is punishable by a fine and imprisonment for up to five years or both. A similar offence is contained in section 9 of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 but it is limited to certain serious offences.

The Bill provides that no questioning of a person detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 may take place between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m. other than where the suspect objects to the suspension of questioning or the member in charge authorises questioning on the grounds that a delay would involve a risk of injury to other persons; serious damage to property; loss of, or interference with, evidence; accomplices evading, etc. It will continue to be the case that the period during which questioning is suspended will be excluded from the calculation of the detention period.

I welcome the publication of the Bill. It will lead to more effective investigation of white collar crime and reduce associated delays. It has become increasingly clear that Bills on which Fianna Fáil has done the groundwork are appearing under the current Government. This needs to be recognised and identified as a core element of the work the previous Government did in various areas.

This Bill has deep-rooted similarities with a number of other Bills, including the Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) Bill 2011, published by the Minister for Justice and Law Reform during this Dáil session and which is pretty much identical to the Criminal Justice (Community Service) Bill published the former Minister, Mr. Dermot Ahern, in January 2011.

We all welcome the current Minister's initiative in bringing forward this legislation. It is urgent. All we have to do is examine newspapers of recent months and years to identify clearly the urgent need for the legislation. It is welcome and we support it. We wish the Minister well. This is the first opportunity I have had to congratulate him on his appointment. We knew each other in a previous incarnation. I am particularly pleased he has begun what is a heavy job of work in his Department. We wish him well in that Department.

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