Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

As drafted, section 5 provides that a joint investigation team shall be established for a specific purpose and a limited period. Where necessary, that period may be extended for an additional period or periods as agreed by the competent authorities concerned. All countries involved in a joint investigation will have to agree to the extension.

The amendment proposed seeks to allow the period of time for which a joint investigation team operates to be extended while limiting it to "such periods not exceeding its duration since establishment". In other words, a joint investigation team which had been established for four months could only be extended for an additional four month period unless other periods were agreed. This would not make sense. It is not possible at the beginning of a criminal investigation to know exactly how long it will take. The duration of an investigation depends on many factors which are completely outside the control of the persons involved and change as the investigation progresses. As an investigation progresses, the length of time involved may become clearer. Where it becomes evident that more time is needed and it is estimated that, for example, the complexity of the investigation requires an additional period of one year, the written agreement drawn up among the member states involved in establishing the team will have to be amended. It would not make sense to have to amend an agreement three times over the course of the subsequent year when it would have been quite clear at the outset that an additional period of year was required.