Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to contribute to this important and timely debate on this legislation. I thank the Minister of State for bringing it to the House. Like my colleague, Deputy Catherine Murphy, I agree that at some point we need to look at the process of keeping up with the transposition of European directives and ensuring that Ireland is not a laggard when it comes to implementation of European legislation. That said, this is worthwhile and important legislation, even though there are a number of amendments to be teased out on Committee Stage and more to be brought from the House.

It is great to see it here and a great opportunity to contribute to it.

There are two approaches I wish to take to this legislation in my brief remarks this evening. The first goes to the crux of the legislation and is something we should always be mindful of when we talk about the penal system and people in prison, namely, that we should always consider the methods and merits of rehabilitation. It is far easier to rehabilitate a prisoner or convict if he or she is in a jurisdiction where he or she speaks the language, has opportunities to see his or her family, better himself or herself, educate himself or herself and perhaps rehabilitate himself or herself from addiction. Transferring prisoners to their home jurisdiction is certainly the most favourable approach to ensure that. As a number of Deputies have remarked, the vast majority in prison are not the masked criminals or the supervillains but people who have done wrong and are facing their sentence. As a society, we have a responsibility to guarantee their human rights and their rehabilitation. The opportunities this piece of legislation provides, in the form of ensuring repatriation, is something that should be really pursued by the Government. However, I agree with Deputy Catherine Murphy we must be cautious that while the vast majority of EU member states are very similar to Ireland in their approach to the judicial system, the rule of law and human rights, there are a number of worrying incidences in member states where the rule of law is simply being flouted and the human and civil rights of people, be they Irish citizens or otherwise, cannot always be guaranteed. That requires a very keen eye on the part of the Departments of Foreign Affairs and of Justice to ensure that level of equality and equity.

There is an another element we must look at, that is, the hardened criminals we must get home to face justice here. We must get them home to ensure they atone for the crimes they have committed against Irish people and indeed society at large. When looking at this legislation, we must seriously consider how we can strengthen the European arrest warrant but also our ability to perform extraditions. There a number of Irish criminals who are at large outside the EU, smugly looking back at the victims of their crimes, society at large, An Garda and our Government in this jurisdiction. They think they are beyond our reach. We must ensure the agencies of the State are given absolutely every resource that can be made available to them to ensure those people can be brought home to face justice and that we do not simply see them in tabloid newspapers making a mockery of us when some other jurisdiction or regime is more than happy to accommodate them.

Extradition is a very delicate matter, however. I welcome the decision taken by the Department of Foreign Affairs to suspend our extradition treaty with Hong Kong in light of the crackdown on protests in that jurisdiction by the Chinese Government and domestic lawmakers. A number of Deputies have already made the point, and I agree, that it is vitally important that we continue the effort to bring Mr. Richard O'Halloran home. Mr. O'Halloran and his family are constituents of mine and are known to me. The work going on very publicly and behind the scenes by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, and his officials with Chinese officials is a credit to them, but we cannot let up. The fact Mr. O'Halloran has been away from home for two years on trumped-up charges simply is not good enough. We cannot cease to ensure that every effort is made to ensure he comes home.

This is a good Bill. It is good for Ireland and for the entire EU. Its swift passage through this House, with all the checks and rigours of democracy, is vitally important but the main aspect of it is that when we can receive returning prisoners, we ensure we fundamentally focus on their rehabilitation and ensure that when their sentence is finished they go back into Irish society as functioning and committed members of it. That is our responsibility as a State.

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