Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent)

The 1939 Act was found to be repugnant to the Constitution because it allowed a person who was not independent of the investigation to issue a search warrant in respect of a dwelling. I made a point previously on which I will now dwell at greater length. It is a fact that situations arise in the middle of the night in which an incident occurs, gardaí may require the urgent issuing of a warrant and it is not practical, sensible or possible to make contact with a Circuit Court or District Court judge to be issued with such a warrant. This is the reason it is vital that a superintendent be able to issue such a warrant. Section 29 allowed 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 under the Act of 1939, including firearms and explosives offences and a small number of other serious offences, was to be found. It did not require the superintendent to be independent of the investigation. That was the crux of the matter at the time. The person issuing the warrant could not be part of the investigation team.

The implications of the judgment have been very serious for the workings of the Garda Síochána. While the Garda Síochána can, pending the enactment of the Bill, avail of other statutory powers that allow applications for warrants to be made to the District Court, the loss of section 29 has significant implications for Garda operations. In the event that there are urgent circumstances involving the use of firearms or explosives or the other myriad activities in which criminals engage, it is not practical to apply to a District Court judge in the time available in the middle of the night.

The Bill has many implications. To be blunt, people have got off on foot of the judgment in this case and the Bill is limited to addressing future Garda investigations. There is no legislative option available to the Minister to address existing cases in which section 29 warrants may be at issue. The Oireachtas cannot retrospectively make something constitutional that the Supreme Court has declared to be repugnant to the Constitution. Whether we agree with its finding, the Supreme Court interprets the law of the land and we have no other choice but to comply with its direction.

It is vital that the Bill is enacted as soon as possible. I believe it will commence the day after it is signed by the President. The Minister should have our support on this matter. As the Garda Síochána is really up against it in dealing with the criminal elements, it is vital that we support it at every opportunity. There is highly organised criminal activity taking place. It has been pointed out to me that there are criminals travelling around the country who do not participate in any crime. They study the security procedures of banks, post offices, shops and petrol stations and sell the information to other criminals who use it to carry out their crimes. The criminal element is very organised. Those involved are using all sorts of technology available. They have found ways to combat the security procedures in place at business premises at high expense to those businesses that are already struggling to keep their doors open. They are trying to fight off these criminals who are continuously targeting them. The Garda deserves the full support of every elected politician, which is why in the past I have raised with the Minister the issue of the protection of small Garda stations. In order to allow the Garda do its job properly for the small cost involved, no Garda station should be closed. In a reply to me, the Minister once stated the average cost of keeping a rural Garda station open was somewhere between €3,500 and €5,000. If stations are closed, the same amount of money will still be spent in maintaining them because there will be no rush to buy them and they will continue to be owned by the State. They will have to be maintained in a proper fashion and not allowed to fall into disrepair; therefore, we will still spend the money on the buildings. It is common sense to keep them open to help the Garda fight the ever increasing scourge of criminal activity.

There are new crimes being committed. Houses in estates are being attacked in the middle of the night and shots are being fired. There are many forms of intimidation. It comes back to ensuring the swift passage of the Bill through the House.

There certainly should be a victims' charter to support the victims of crime who have been badly affected by criminal actions. We have seen the spectacle of wealthy career criminals somehow managing to avail of free legal aid at a time when the Government is cutting back on expenditure in all areas. I fully support the idea of persons of limited means who may have drawn the Garda Síochána on them availing of free legal aid. They must have proper representation in court, as they have little or no means and may have abused drugs or alcohol. However, a wealthy career criminal with assets such as property held by other family members should never be allowed to avail of such aid. It is wrong and does not make sense, at a time when the Government is trying to save money, to assist the people concerned in fighting the efforts of the Garda to convict them for engaging in illegal activities.

Nobody has a monopoly in doing the right thing at all times. Unfortunately, in recent times, as has been highlighted by Deputy Mattie McGrath, people have got it wrong in taking the word of the banks when raiding contractors. I am referring to the famous case in Thurles, where gardaí ill advisedly took the word of the banks and carried out raids in the middle of the night on honest, respectable agricultural and plant hire contractors to repossess machinery which subsequently had to be returned and an apology had to be given by the banks. While I support the Garda Síochána in every way possible, we cannot allow a situation where it takes the word of the banks and target private households. It has to tread with extreme caution in dealing with such cases.

I compliment the Garda Síochána overall, whether it is in rural areas or urban centres such as Dublin. Even in recent years, the situation has become much worse for members of the Garda Síochána. They are trying to survive at a time when cuts are eating into their work schedule and when, at every opportunity, they are being cut back on the overtime which they need to carry out their work properly. Superintendents and chief superintendents have the increasingly impossible task of trying to ensure the streets and the countryside are policed properly while, at the same time, they are working within constrained budgets.

We are very fortunate in Ireland that we have excellent people working in the force. I would like to see a situation where the Minister would, in the not too distant future hopefully, begin recruiting new members of the force. There is a certain threshold we cannot go below because if we do we will allow a situation where the criminals of this country will win the war, which we do not want. We want to ensure we have a safe State that is properly policed. While I appreciate the restrictions on the Minister, I look forward to a situation where we can achieve this, perhaps in a limited way at the beginning.

Many people have retired from the force, including those who took early retirement in the recent past, as was their right, but this has left a void in the force, the strength of which is decreasing all the time. I would like to see recruitment begin, and this would give gainful employment to young people who would dearly love to be members of the Garda Síochána. I support the Minister in the speedy passage of the Bill and compliment all those who have worked hard and diligently on it.

See this speech in context