Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State for the debate on the Bill. I will make a number of points about it and I would like the Minister of State to comment on them.

I would welcome any Bill to tackle the problems of organised crime and terrorism, but this Bill makes few changes to the criminal law. It simply provides a statutory basis for the way in which the joint investigation teams will be set up and operate. I wonder whether this has come about as a gesture, internationally, to tackle terrorism, particularly since the awful events of 11 September 2001.

Under current legislation, it is already possible to do what is set out in the Bill. There is nothing stopping our police force investigating matters in another country and forces in other countries can investigate matters here. That co-operation still exists and the Europol system has worked well in that regard. Will the Minister explain how these investigation teams will operate differently from the current system under Part VII of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 and the Europol Act of 1997? I understand that the Bill is not being driven by the Government, but that it came about on foot of a directive from the EU Council framework decision with which we have to deal. I wish to criticise the way the Government has chosen to deal with it.

Section 2 designates the Garda Commissioner as the competent authority. We are all aware of the crime statistics currently available, particularly in respect of violent street crimes. Nobody can deny that Garda resources are over-stretched. That problem was not helped when the Government reneged on its pre-election promise to provide an additional 2,000 gardaí.

This legislation does nothing to address the problem of Garda resources. No provision is made for the allocation of additional resources to enable the Garda to discharge the considerable burden placed upon it by the Bill. Day in, day out, Senators call for measures to be put in place to enable the Garda to carry out its duties more efficiently. The most frequent call is for the recruitment of additional gardaí. What pressure will the legislation put on Garda resources, which are overstretched?

I refer to the duration and cost of investigations. Operationally, the Bill has the potential to result in a proliferation of lengthy, joint investigations consuming considerable Garda time. There is complete flexibility for extending the duration of investigations under section 5(1). The period of extension should be limited to one further term or longer in consultation with the Minister because the Bill could give rise to excessively lengthy investigations. Garda drug operations are fully costed prior to sanction. There are good reasons to provide a costing mechanism under the legislation. I would like the Minister of State to comment on this issue.