Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

I welcome this Bill. The purpose of the Bill is to deal with the fall-out from the Supreme Court judgment on 23 February 2012 in a case taken against the DPP and the Attorney General for future Garda investigations into subversive and other serious crimes. I commend the Minister for acting without delay subsequent to the shortcomings pointed out by the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court found section 29 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 to be repugnant to the Constitution, because it allowed a person who was not independent of the investigation to issue a search warrant in relation to a dwelling. Section 29(1) permitted a superintendent to issue a warrant where he or she was satisfied that evidence of, or relating to, the commission or intended commission, of an offence scheduled for the purpose of Part V of the 1939 Act, such as firearms and explosives offences or a small number of other serious offences, was to be found. This situation did not require the superintendent to be independent of the investigation.

I appreciate the balance that the Minister seeks in this Bill and I believe that the distinctions it creates between a search warrant issued by a member of An Garda Síochána and that of a District Court judge reflect the importance of the matter at hand. The fact that a warrant issued by An Garda Síochána lasts just 48 hours while that of a District Court judge lasts one week, and that a warrant issued by An Garda Síochána has an associated report on its creation, reflects the way we want to go and underlines the importance of the administration of justice in accordance with our Constitution. The separation of powers is important and that is underlined in this Bill.

I am happy the Minister has achieved the correct balance and maintains the integrity and independence of any criminal investigations from a procedural perspective, while also recognising that there are instances where urgency is required. The timeframe allowed and the requirement to outline the reasons in report form for the granting of a search warrant by a Garda superintendent not associated with the criminal investigation allow operational matters and the day to day work of both An Garda Síochána and the DPP to continue.

I understand there are other people availing of this Supreme Court judgment and are in the process of appealing their convictions. This is regrettable but understandable. This legislation cannot be applied retrospectively and I hope that convictions secured would not be thrown out by what is or was in essence a procedural matter. This is an issue upon which I have no doubt the courts will once again be called to adjudicate.

In conclusion, I welcome the Bill as updating that which has been in place for a long number of years without a proper review. I also note the Minister has instructed his officials to conduct a general review of search powers. It is my understanding that this review will be informed by the forthcoming Law Reform Commission report on search warrants. I welcome this approach by the Minister and look forward to further debates in the House on the matter of search powers in due course.

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