Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will deal with the matters raised in reverse order. Deputy Mattie McGrath raised an important point. I draw his attention to amendment No. 18 which deals with offences. If a mobile phone company fails to comply with a direction issued to it, the individuals responsible will be liable to criminal prosecution. That is a very specific power.

I will not respond at any great length to what Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett said, as we have both addressed the issue. He has his view and I have mine. I will draw certain matters to his attention. As Minister at the Departments of Justice and Equality and Defence, I am very conscious that the Garda and the Defence Forces, unfortunately, have a wealth of experience of dealing with threats posed by improvised explosive devices. These incidents do not receive a large amount of publicity and no one seeks publicity for them. In 2012 the Garda and the Defence Forces dealt with 96 such cases. The brave members of the Defence Forces were called out by the Garda on 96 occasions last year to deal with the threat of explosive devices. The Defence Forces deal with these matters with great professionalism and these incidents were dealt with very successfully. I hope the Deputy will understand that, for security reasons, it is not appropriate for me to elaborate further on them.

We have a problem in this area, about which Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett should be under no illusion. I am not saying I know of a major threat in relation to the G8 summit. I am saying we should apply the precautionary principle to ensure any tool necessary to protect human life is available to us. The G8 summit could become a focus for a group that might resort to the use of some sort of explosive device to make a point or a name for itself. It has nothing to do with peaceful demonstrators. I will be very happy to welcome to this country people of divergent political views who want to sit down to debate and discuss issues openly. It is often really important to challenge the conventional wisdom in these areas. When that happens, it is important for those who hold different views to be able to substantiate them. I have no difficulty with the arrival in this country of people whose views differ from those of the G8 leaders. I have no difficulty with people demonstrating peacefully. I emphasise that it should be peaceful - people's access to attend meetings should not be obstructed. I have no difficulty with people organising alternative meetings, debating issues and disagreeing with the G8 leaders. I have no difficulty with any of this. However, I have a duty as Minister for Justice and Equality to ensure we do what we can to protect human life. We have to keep our law in touch with modern technology. That is what this is about. It is about nothing more than this.

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