Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Question 2: To ask the Minister for Justice and Law Reform the latest information available to him on the security threat posed by dissident paramilitary organisations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35523/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The increase in activities by the groups in question in recent months is obviously a matter of concern for the Government. I know that all Members of the House will join me in condemning these groups without reserve. We should be clear that these people are no more than criminals using violent means in pursuit of their own ends. They have no support in the wider community for their criminal ends or their violent means.

The Garda Commissioner has made it clear that although these paramilitaries continue to pose a threat, as is clearly evidenced by incidents in Northern Ireland in recent months and days and the rise in the threat level in Britain, the Garda is working continually to disrupt and to foil their plans and activities. My advice from the Garda authorities is that although the numbers involved in these groups are relatively small, they have nonetheless increased their capabilities and activities in recent months. The pattern of dissident acts in recent months has been to target members of the security forces in Northern Ireland, particularly with repeated attempts on the lives of Catholic PSNI officers.

I can assure the House that the Garda continues to co-operate seamlessly with the PSNI in actively pursuing the dissidents. The Garda Commissioner has stated that he regards an attack on the PSNI as an attack on the Garda Síochána, an attitude shared by the Government. The Chief Constable of the PSNI has also referred to the excellent operational relationship between the two forces. This close level of operational co-operation has been instrumental in recent months in preventing atrocities and saving lives, and it will continue to be an essential element in bringing those criminals to book.

It is only right to record the fact that the security services in both jurisdictions have had significant successes in preventing atrocities. Since the start of this year the Garda has arrested over 50 people believed to be members of these groups and 22 are at present before the courts. Facing up to the dissident threat is a priority for the Garda Síochána and, in support of this aim, the Government has maintained a high level of resources for the force, particularly in terms of keeping to the approved numbers of operational personnel. I am assured by the Garda Commissioner that he has the resources he needs at his disposal in this regard.

The Government remains committed to upholding the democratically expressed desire of the overwhelming majority of people on this island to build a future based on peace and to consign all paramilitary violence to the past. I know that this commitment will be shared by all in this House. We will continue, in co-operation with the authorities in Northern Ireland and Great Britain, to spare no effort to ensure that those thugs who seek to subvert the democratic will of the people will face the full rigours of the law.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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I join with the Minister in deploring what happened on Monday night. Do I take it from what he has said that the dissident groups have the capacity not just to create destruction and mayhem, but to injure and take human life? We know from experience that is only a matter of time before human life will be put at risk, whatever their intention.

One reads reports about training bases and camps in the Republic being used by those same groups. Does the Minister know anything about the bomb on Monday night in terms of whether it was travelled across the Border? It is the case that policing and general security along the Border has been eased. In normal circumstances we would all welcome that, but is the Minister satisfied that in the context of the dissident groups providing a more substantial threat than might have been anticipated at the time that there is adequate Border security in operation?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The situation in particular on the northern side has eased in terms of the militarisation to which we were used in the past 30 years, but it is safe to say that there has not been an easing of the Garda focus on the side of the Border. That is instanced by the fact that this year alone 50 people have been arrested and 22 people are before the courts. Recently at my insistence the Garda Síochána, in conjunction with a number of other State agencies, commenced multi-agency checkpoints along the Border. I was a great supporter of that particular initiative when I was Minister for Social and Family Affairs. Recently the Garda Síochána instigated those in an effort to disrupt not just ordinary smuggling, but also the dissident groups. I understand they have been another successful operational tool.

Deputy Rabbitte inquired about the capability of dissident groups. There is doubt that even though their numbers are still relatively small they have gained in capability and there is more sharing of information between some of the groups which did not happen heretofore.

On the question of training camps in the Republic while one can never say that this does not happen, the Garda Síochána has been very successful in recent years in dealing with the so-called dissidents. Much of the reason for this is that most people do not have the type of support that their predecessors in the provisional IRA had across this island.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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Much as we would like it to be the case, it is not quite true to say that there is no support for these groupings. I read about the research done by a Liverpool academic who presented it to Queens University Belfast recently which indicates that, regrettably, there appears to be more support among the Nationalist community for them than we would have thought.

In terms of the identity and flags of convenience being used by these groups, do I understand that other than the Real IRA and the Continuity IRA as we have known them, the most deadly group at the moment is flying under the flag of Óglaigh na hÉireann which is essentially a collection of former Provo activists? Is the Minister concerned that such information is correct? Is there information relating to the threat in Britain from the same groups?

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I have seen press reports on that particular research. It is safe to say that it does refer to the support being small by any standard. The author refers to small-scale support. None of us is complacent in that regard. It is not correct to equate it to the type of support the Provisional IRA had especially in the North during its campaign of 30 years because the majority of people North and South do not give logistical support to the so-called dissidents.

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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For the record, I am not equating it.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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Sure. The issue of the threat in Britain is not regarded as severe as that to the North of Ireland. The threat in the North has been there for some time. That is the considered view of the Garda Síochána and the PSNI Chief Constable. Equally, I know from the Garda Commissioner who is in contact with the security services in Britain that he is satisfied with the raising of the level of the threat to Britain. Our focus on this island should primarily be on this island. What was the middle question asked by Deputy Rabbitte?

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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It was on Óglaigh na hÉireann.

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I do not want to go into the different groups as they are disparate but there is no doubt that there is some cross-fertilisation between two of the major groups. That is something the Garda Síochána is examining very closely.