Jim O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy James Lawless. We will not take the full amount of time available.

Fianna Fáil will support this important technical Bill. As the Minister said, the purpose of the Bill is to transpose into Irish law the framework decision that was made in October 2009 and which seeks to give mutual recognition to what we in Ireland would term bail conditions that are applied in this country so that they can be availed of by a citizen of another EU country in that other EU country.

We should acknowledge at the outset that it has taken a long time for us to get here. As I mentioned, the decision was made in October 2009 and ten years later we are dealing with Second Stage of the Bill seeking to get it transposed. We need to acknowledge that this is not the first time we have had a significant delay in respect of the transposition of important legislation in the criminal justice area.

The Government should make efforts to try to ensure we will not be guilty of this type of delay in the future. It is not just the fact, as the Minister stated, that we could be subjected to sanctions by the European Commission and European Court of Justice but also that we need to recognise that citizens of other EU member states cannot avail of the provisions of this if they happen to be arrested in Ireland since we have not transposed it into Irish law. It is also important to say that nothing in this legislation impacts on the rights of members of the Judiciary here to refuse to grant bail. The right to refuse to grant bail will still rest with members of the court on the basis of, for instance, whether they believe there is a likelihood of another offence being committed while the person is out on bail. It is unquestionably the case that in many instances people from other EU countries are refused bail because they can be regarded as flight risks. That is why this is useful legislation. We will be able to allow people who meet the qualifications to have bail granted to them to serve those bail conditions in the country in which they are resident or where they are EU citizens. Similarly, we have seen many examples, as the Minister mentioned, of Irish citizens who may be arrested and prosecuted abroad where it would have been preferable if they could have served their bail conditions here as opposed to not having any bail conditions granted to them, but in fact they would then be subject to being remanded in custody in the EU country.

As I mentioned, there is another matter we need to consider. I know it will be difficult for the Minister to answer this now unless he has a crystal ball, but what will be the position in the case of a no-deal Brexit? We know that in a no-deal Brexit European arrest warrants will be a very difficult issue. There is significant co-operation between Ireland and the UK in the operation of the European arrest warrant, particularly in respect of the matter we talked about earlier. I refer to the PSNI and An Garda Síochána co-operating in the extradition of people on either side of the Border for the purpose of facing criminal charges. We have seen that if it is the case that there will be a no-deal Brexit, there will be problems with the European arrest warrant. Furthermore, what will be the position of Irish people in the UK who are charged with offences? Will they be granted or refused bail in circumstances in which the provisions of this legislation will not apply?

Fianna Fáil will support the legislation.

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