Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish to register the Socialist Party's opposition to the renewal of this Act, which was introduced following the Omagh atrocity. The Socialist Party in the North opposed and continues to oppose the cancer of sectarianism. Our efforts against sectarianism include building trade union responses to sectarianism. The basis for terrorism lies in the material, social and political conditions that exist in a society. History has shown us that groups cannot be diminished by repressive laws. To this day, nobody has been brought to account for the Omagh bombing with this legislation. The conditions that give rise to terrorism can only be eliminated through a radical transformation of society, whereby jobs are provided and wealth is used for the benefit of the majority rather than a tiny elite.

I also oppose the legislation because it has considerable potential to be used against peaceful mass protest by citizens, workers and trade unions. This could include people who oppose and challenge the exploitative employers and, in the years ahead, the austerity agenda of this Government. In Brazil, anti-terror legislation was introduced in advance of the World Cup ostensibly to deal with terrorism. That legislation provides for sentences of 15 to 30 years in prison for anyone who causes or incites widespread terror by threatening the life, physical integrity, health or liberty of a person. It is widely feared that it will be used against protestors who have been defending their slums and shacks against the clearances that have taken place for the World Cup and against transport workers. Similar legislation which was introduced in Greece ostensibly to deal with terrorism has been used against protestors, who no longer have the right to wear a mask or hood to protect against tear gas. We have seen how the Patriot Act introduced in America in the aftermath of 9-11 has led to the ridiculous situation where books have been monitored in libraries and the shame of Guantanamo Bay.

We should not renew this legislation. I remind the Minister of the way in which the special branch has been used to monitor left-wing political activists and the use of gardaí to guard water metres in the last week. We can see that policing is being used to erode people's civil liberties.

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