Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

The Minister has had his chance and he will have it again. It helps to move away from sectarian quotas which are included in the Northern Ireland peace agreement. However, repressive legislation such as this is not the way to continue the momentum for peace and for breaking down sectarianism. In many cases this legislation is used to target the wrong people. I will not elaborate on Deputy Higgins's comments in this regard except to say that under the provisions of this legislation Mahatma Gandhi, if he were in this country, could be imprisoned for life for his campaign not to pay tax on the production of salt. Under such a campaign of civil disobedience he would be liable to be put in prison for life and proscribed as the organiser of an unlawful campaign of civil disobedience.

Deputy O'Brien pointed out that given the low number of convictions under this legislation in contrast with the large number of arrests and other uses of the legislation, it would appear it is being used more to gather information on organisations and groups with which the State has a problem. When this extends to anti-war activists it begins to be of serious concern. The Garda recently raided the home of the PRO of the Galway Alliance against War. His house was raided at 8 a.m. with his wife and daughters in bed. Vile language was used against members of the family and one of his daughters was vilified for being a member of Sinn Féin. The gardaí claimed to be there because of an investigation over a protest that had taken place in Shannon Airport against the use of that airport by the US military. They did not find the information they sought, but they seized three computers, two DVDs of peace protests in 2005 and 2006, and various papers. They also complained that Mr. Farrell, the PRO of the Galway Alliance against War, had too many books on his shelves before they headed off with computers, including a computer belonging to his wife which contained sensitive academic and examination material belonging to students in the university in which she lectures. They have still not returned those computers which do not contain any incriminating information on the activities of a peace organisation, but contain the databases containing contact details for the membership of the Galway Alliance against War.

Was that raid carried out under the provisions of this legislation? What does the Minister have to say about the use of such powers to raid in the early morning the house of an anti-war activist? Will he return those computers and ensure this legislation is not abused in this way? Will he ensure that legislation that would allow that to happen is not on the Statute Book?

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