Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am happy to take part in this debate. It is important to deal with these issues. It is important the reserved powers under the treaty continue to be exercised by national parliaments. I know there have been some concerns about some issues relating to Europol and Eurodac. These must continue to be explored. Recently we had a number of debates on the Prüm decisions. Throughout we have pointed out that the UK was one of the largest users of these databases. As a consequence of the disastrous Tory Brexit, it has been cut off from usage of the database. As with so many other areas, it has put the UK in the position of speaking out of both sides of its mouth. It talks tough on crime but has tied its own hands in trying to get the resources to do so. Where agreement is possible, however, we should enable it but not at any cost. The British Government's efforts have not worked and the same is true with regard to the institutions in the North. We are happy for these proposals to proceed.

With regard to the Kyoto Declaration I note it is to deal with the pillars of crime prevention, criminal justice, the rule of law and international co-operation. We do not oppose these. We agree that Ireland as an EU member state and a member of the UN should stand by the collective commitments contained in the declaration. Ireland has a long tradition of co-operating with European and international colleagues, as the Minister said in her opening statement, to reduce the impact of crime. With regard to the insolvency regulations we will be supporting the proposals.

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