Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

5 o’clock

It seems that almost on a weekly basis the Minister of State brings a resolution before us to amend the justice co-operation arrangements we have in the European Union, all with very good reason. Eurojust, which is 20 years old, is one of the most important institutions to facilitate co-operation on criminal matters for law enforcement across the Union and beyond. As we repeatedly say in debates of this kind, criminality knows no borders.

As has been indicated by several speakers, Eurojust is important in the investigation and prosecution of serious cross-border crime. In the current context, the most important issues are those crimes that involve genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. All of us have been horrified to our core at what is unfolding in Ukraine. Putin's aggression in the illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine seems to be almost bestial in its horror and the suffering and pain that his regime is willing to unleash upon the civilian population of Ukraine. What has been uncovered so far in Bucha and other satellite towns and villages of Kyiv is quite horrific. What is even more shocking is what is happening this very minute in Mariupol, where it is thought that 20,000 or more people are already dead and the notion that portable crematoria are being brought in to dispose of the bodies. This is beyond shocking. It is something that we thought we had left behind us in the middle of the last century, in the Nazi regimes and the horror that they unfolded. We certainly need to amend the capacity to ensure the perpetrators of such appalling crimes are held to account.

I support the adjustments in the regulations that are proposed in the proposition before the House. As other speakers have said, they will allow the collection, preservation, and analysis of evidence and to secure it in a safe way. At other times we can talk about data security and cybersecurity because such a depository would be subject to cyberattack as well, in addition to the exact nature of the data to be stored. That is for us to flesh out perhaps on another occasion.

In the two minutes remaining, I want to mention another issue, that is, our own response to dealing with this issue. The Minister of State has instanced our welcoming of some 27,000 refugees. That is a really good thing. The Minister of State is aware that communities, particularly our own community, have opened their hearts and arms to refugees. A Bill I introduced, the Proceeds of Crime (Gross Human Rights Abuses) Bill, has been before the House for some time. It passed Second Stage and the Minister of State responded to it. It is before the committee, but it still has not received a money message authorisation from the Government. This is more than symbolic, but it is symbolic as well. I hear international commentators now talking about the legislation that is before our Legislature as an important part of the Magnitsky suite of laws that are being enacted everywhere, in particular on foot of the horrors unfolding in Ukraine. The Proceeds of Crime (Gross Human Rights Abuses) Bill 2020 is before the committee. I hope we will deal with it in the immediate future. Will the Minister of State go back to the Taoiseach and the senior Minister in his Department and ask that the money message would be sent to the committee in order that this very important legislation can be enacted? People might say it is not practical and ask how we link the human rights abuses to the perpetrator but that is true of all the investigations we are talking about in this context. It is a signal that those who aid, abet or assist in any way gross human rights abuses will be held to account, either through the International Criminal Court or if any of them want to stash their loot here, we will hold them to account and we will take it from them in the proceeds of crime legislation that we have in our jurisdiction. My final comment is to ask the Minister of State to take that back and perhaps to come back to me with clarity on the issue.

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