Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I am unsure whether I am sad or embarrassed to be here again at the annual charade, whereby we are asked to wave through draconian legislation in order that it can operate for another 12 months. It bears emphasising that the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act was supposed to be passed as emergency legislation in 1998 but yet we renew it every year. The reason we are asked to renew it every year is that the Bill contains a radical departure from normal procedures in any civilised society with regard to due process. The potential for such legislation to be seriously abused is real and disturbing. We should step back and ask whether this legislation is in any way useful. As Deputy Wallace said, section 8 of the 2009 Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act, which we are being asked to renew today, has never been invoked by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Back in 2011 in a strongly worded statement the Irish Council for Civil Liberties said that the Government's renewal of this redundant gangland power in the Act defied reason. If it defied reason in 2011, it certainly defies reason in 2015.

When the Minister moved this Bill in the Seanad last week, she acknowledged that organised crime continues to represent a significant law enforcement issue. In other words, the presence of this draconian legislation has had absolutely zero impact on gangland crime. Rather, it is put forward to curtail civil liberties and does nothing to deal with what it is supposed to deal with. The proof is in the moving. This is fourth time in the lifetime of this Dáil that we have debated these issues. The first time around, on 13 June 2012, in moving to renew the 1998 Act, the former Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, told the Dáil: "The Garda assessment, shared by the PSNI, in regard to the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland is that it is severe". On 19 June 2013, again moving the motion the same Minister said, "The Garda assessment, shared by the PSNI, of the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland is that it is severe". On 19 June 2014, the current Minister for Justice and Equality said: "the Garda assessment, shared by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, PSNI, of the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland is that it is severe". Last week, the Minster again said, "the Garda assessment, which is shared by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, of the terrorist threat level in Northern Ireland is that it is regarded as severe". In other words, every year we have had a carbon copy. The wording has not changed, but neither has the supposed threat level. What benefit has this legislation brought during that time?

The real way of dealing with gangland and organised crime is to work with other Departments to address their social causes. If the Government wishes to deal with terrorist activities, it should deal with the conditions that breed them, including the position of our prisons, which have been shamefully ignored. Curtailing democratic rights in line with the recent Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Bill is an undemocratic overreaction to an overblown terrorist threat. It is simply not good enough. The idea that we would suspend a right to jury trial and other basic democratic human rights in the name of a so-called spurious threat is absolutely appalling. We should not be renewing it. We should absolutely do away with this repressive legislation.

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