Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think anyone would disagree with the comments of Deputy Martin. Intelligence and information is critical to saving lives and preventing incidents of terrorism or extremism which is why, when speaking to the British Prime Minister this morning, I said to him that we will co-operate with the British Government in respect of interception of communications where that applies, but that it would be within the confines of the law. Deputy Martin is well aware of the close co-operation between the Garda and the PSNI and the evidence that it has prevented incidents on both sides of the Border. The level of co-operation remains very high and there is clearly a level of sharing of intelligence, which I know Deputy Martin supports. The Garda have met their counterparts at a European level and are very conscious of this issue.

Do we hear remarks about this country being used as a hub for transit to other locations of these so-called foreign fighters? There is no evidence that Ireland is a transit hub for extremists. As a small number of people who belong to a particular group are here, if there are any indications in their activities of involvement or an inclination in that regard, they are closely monitored by the Garda. It is important to say that the vast majority of those religious groups who are here want to go about their lives in the ordinary way and practise their genuine religious beliefs.

We do not have any evidence, given to the committee, of this country being used as a hub for terrorist activities. The current approach by the EU, in which we participate, is focused on four areas: enhanced information sharing between police and intelligence services, which is the point Deputy Martin raised; dealing with online radicalisation; engagement with third states used by foreign fighters to access Syria and Iraq, notably in this case Turkey; and improved controls to counteract illicit firearms. The European internal security strategy concentrates on a number of priority areas in tackling terrorism. They include the establishment of a European counter-terrorism centre within EUROPOL; disrupting organised crime, which included supporting legislation to make it more difficult for criminals to abuse financial systems; and fighting cybercrime, focusing on identifying high risk areas here and working with the private sector to identify vulnerabilities and close loopholes and the provision of specialised training. In this context the Government recently approved the national cyber-security strategy, which will be led by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The priority areas also include dealing with online radicalisation, including launching an EU level forum with the IT companies to bring them into contact with civil law, civil society and law enforcement agencies with a view to countering online extremist propaganda. The authorities here have met social media companies and organisations with a view to looking at that issue. Officials from the Department of Justice and Equality and members of the Garda travelled and met the major social media companies to identify ways the public and the private sector can work to address this particular matter. It is an issue of concern to everyone. From the Garda point of view and the committee's point of view, this is a high level priority and continues to be monitored very closely.

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