Pa Daly (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am standing in for Deputy Martin Kenny. We will be allowing this motion to pass, but after the time I have spent in this House, there is a certain sense of déjà vuabout it, given the number of motions in the area of security and justice. Of course, this is a consequence of the Brexit policy, where the tactics have been to delay and delay, even when it is just the inevitable that is being delayed. The institutions in the North have suffered, politics on this island has suffered and ordinary people, North and South, have suffered, and I am sure the Government representatives will not disagree. The irony, of course, is that the UK is one of the biggest users of the various databases and procedures open to it under EU judicial co-operation, and owing to its large size, large population and other factors, its police and security agencies rely on this information. In the area of immigration, there seem to be no lengths to which it will not go while crime and wrongdoing inside its borders have become more of a problem.

We ourselves are also faced with a huge problem due to Brexit and the lack of final status agreement in many areas. Criminal networks now operate on a transnational basis and the need for co-operation between North and South, as well as east and west, is paramount. Throughout Brexit, the Garda and the PSNI have continued to work well together despite challenges. I commend both bodies on this and note there have been a number of reforms recently in regard to accountability and civilian control within the Twenty-six Counties, so the police services are becoming more aligned and that may continue.

In terms of the detail of what is required, the proposal refers to Article 3 of Protocol 21 of the annex to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, TFEU. The protocol governs the participation of Ireland and the UK in measures relating to freedom, justice and security. Scrutiny over EU measures is an important part of the democratic process, especially in this area. Given some EU members are adopting worrying positions in respect of minority rights and judicial independence, we cannot always be certain this is an area where we will always agree with our EU colleagues, and definitely not with the Israeli Government.

Notwithstanding this, mutual co-operation is still important and consists of a variety of mechanisms whereby assistance in regard to criminal investigations or proceedings may be provided by one state to another. It is worth consulting the wording of the trade and co-operation agreement, TCA. Article 365 of the TCA provides for three things, namely, that the Specialised Committee on Law Enforcement and Judicial Cooperation shall undertake that requests of mutual assistance will be made using a standard form and that the committee may amend the standard form as may be necessary. Legal and operational certainty is important and the form will assist with this.

I do not pretend to by au faitwith the details of how requests were made previously but it does not seem satisfactory that they could made in different formats. Standardisation seems to be positive. We agree that the motion should pass.

While we are dealing with protocols, I welcome reports in the media last week that An Garda Síochána has agreed new protocols in respect of evictions. This should avoid mistakes made previously whereby some local gardaí were very uncomfortable playing a role in evicting tenants. The changes the Commissioner mentioned last week seem to be a step in the right direction.

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