Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister and thank him for his address on this important matter. He knows that when the Act was amended in 1998, following the Omagh atrocity, the Government gave a commitment to all sides of the House that not only would this resolution be put on an annual basis but there would also be provision for a report being placed by the Minister in the Oireachtas Library concerning the rationale for continuing with these draconian provisions. It is important that we debate this on an annual basis.

I have read the Minister's short report on the rationale for the continuance of the Act and I fully agree with him and with the view of the Garda Síochána about the need to retain these measures as a means of countering terrorism in both parts of the island and ensuring that maximum co-operation exists to put these people behind bars, where they belong. The Minister has the support of this side of the House in bringing this resolution to the House and in arguing for it.

It is important to note that in the report the Minister placed in the Library on 14 June 2004, the Garda Síochána states in no uncertain terms in paragraph 8 that there were 14 convictions in the period under report in connection with subversive activities and a further 30 persons were charged during the period and are awaiting trial. A total of 14 convictions have resulted from the legislation that was amended in 1998 following the Omagh atrocity; that is important. Most significantly, for the first time a charge was brought against an individual for directing terrorism.

The Northern authorities should learn from this. Recently, as the Minister is aware, the case against four alleged members of the Real IRA was dropped in the Northern Ireland courts as a result of a loophole in the legislation there whereby the Real IRA, which is proscribed in this jurisdiction, was not specified as an organisation banned under the Terrorism Act 2000. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is appealing the case but it is worth pointing out because attention should be paid to this matter on both sides of the Border and a consistent approach taken in both jurisdictions. The authorities in Northern Ireland, particularly the Secretary of State, have a responsibility to the families of the Omagh victims to do everything in their power to ensure that charges outstanding against many of the individuals directly involved in the planting of the bomb and motivating others to carry out the atrocity are brought to bear. It is good to hear that the investigation will continue until such time as all charges are laid against these people for one of the most serious atrocities in the Troubles in the North.

These fanatical organisations still refuse to accept the new form of self determination which the Irish people accepted when they voted for the Good Friday Agreement. We must be careful from a counter-terrorism standpoint to keep a close eye on these people and be on our guard at all times because they have no democratic compulsion whatsoever. They exist merely to frustrate the will of the Irish people and to bring down any possibility of putting in place the Good Friday Agreement on a lasting basis and they must be squashed and sat upon by every means possible. This is why this draconian legislation will continue in place until such time as these fanatics move off the scene and are put behind bars indefinitely.

It is important that all the offices of the State, specifically the Criminal Assets Bureau, are brought to bear on these people. As the Minister rightly pointed out, this group and others are involved in a whole range of illegal activities. It is important that the Criminal Assets Bureau should be enabled to do everything in its power, even if it needs more support or changes in the legislation, to close down the significant operations in place by these people to carry out their particular form of terrorism. It is important that the Criminal Assets Bureau should continue its work in this regard and do everything in its power to investigate the criminal links that exist within these organisations.

As some of the weaponry from the Continuity IRA got into the hands of the criminal fraternity in Limerick city last year, it is very important that this matter is continually monitored, because these people trade in arms. They have no compunction about giving arms to various organisations as a means of extracting a price from them. Much of the gangland feuding in our cities stems directly from the fact that much of this illegal weaponry remains in place and intact and the hardware can be sold on or leased out at various times to these individuals and other criminal groups. This is why it is important to sit on them and wipe them out.

Younger and madder republicans than the breed we saw in the 1970s and 1980s are still to the fore in some of our universities. Some of the universities are still the recruiting ground for the more irredentist illogical breed of republicans who still refuse to accept the will of the Irish people. The Real IRA used a particular university as a recruiting ground and preyed on young people as a means of bringing them into the United Kingdom and causing havoc at some point in the future. It is important to be aware of this fact.

The Minister spoke about the continued threat by the Real IRA referred to in the latest report of the IMC. Like other Members of the House, members of the Fine Gael Party met this morning with the IMC, which I compliment on its work. It shone an important light on the murky world of paramilitary political parties who operate in this State and in the other state. The rationale for the IMC remains important because it continues to expose the fundamental anti-democratic tendencies of paramilitary political parties, some of which are on the peace message but most of whom are not.

The Fine Gael Party welcomes this resolution. It is important that it remains in place and that these powers are given to the law enforcement authorities to ensure those who are directly responsible, not just for the Omagh atrocity but for the continuation of their fascist message to our people, because they refuse to accept the will of the Irish people, are rounded up and ultimately put in prison. They will not accept the wishes of the Irish people because they are not democrats and never have been. They used their neo-racist argument against British people for the past 90 years to continue their war in this country and in the neighbouring island. The Government, which is committed to international treaties and is a Government within the European Union, must do everything in its power to squash these people and ensure their deadly message is once and for all taken from society. Members on this side of the House, particularly the Fine Gael Party, welcome the resolution and support the joint co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda Síochána in ensuring these people are brought before the courts.