Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be even shorter than Deputy Jim O'Callaghan.

Sinn Féin will also be supporting the Bill which, as outlined, gives effect to the provisions of Directive 2013/40/EU. The Bill seeks to amend some existing legislation. The law on cybercrime in Ireland is somewhat outdated, fragmented across a number of pieces of legislation and unwieldy. The provisions in some of those Acts date back as far as the early 1990s. They are no longer fit for purpose. Given the technological advances in the past 20 odd years there is a need to consolidate and modernise laws pertaining to the protection of information and communication systems. For that reason, we will be giving the Bill our full support. We are considering the possibility of tabling one amendment to section 7 concerning search warrants. We wish to tease that out on Committee Stage.

I echo the comments of the previous speaker on section 8. I do not know whether it is feasible for us to move amendments to examine alternatives to the offences that are being proposed under the legislation. Following last night's observation by Deputy O'Callaghan, it is something that we will be paying a lot more detailed attention to in future when Bills come before us.

As the Minister has outlined the Bill's provisions in its 17 sections, I will not repeat them. There will be a debate on Committee Stage. We fully support the Bill, although there is the possibility that we will table one amendment. I will not delay these proceedings any longer than necessary just for the sake of running down the clock. We support the Bill.

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