Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I would like to contribute again, since I feel so strongly on this issue. Who will vet these "security officers"? Contractors will come in and act as such. We have heard on many occasions about other jurisdictions where such people have worked in art galleries from which there have been thefts. It is all right speaking up when something of that sort happens, but I would not like to be the one to say that he had warned the Minister.

As Senator Leyden pointed out, people such as Heads of State and ambassadors attend the Houses of the Oireachtas regularly. They are to be met and protected by security officers of whose background we know nothing. We do not know who has vetted them or what training they have undergone. In the Courts Service, as Senator Walsh mentioned, in many cases there might be a number of dangerous criminals; yet security officers are to look after the security of the State and the Courts Service.

The Minister should rethink this section. It is not an appropriate response to what is required. I humbly ask him to return on Report Stage and amend this entire concept of voluntary guards and security officers. We are diluting the powers and status of the Garda Síochána, and I am not in favour.