David Norris (Independent)

The European Court of Human Rights has stated that under Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, "the right to silence and the right not to incriminate oneself, are generally recognised international standards which lie at the heart of the notion of a fair procedure under Article 6". There is much to be worried about.

I have not gone into all the technical details because there has not been time to do so. There has not been time to study the Bill properly and to make the kinds of interventions I would like to make. There is enough here to indicate the very serious concerns people have.

I am not on the side of criminals. I am on the side of victims and see nothing here for them. I simply see a desperate election shot by a Minister who is concerned about the fate of the Government.

I wish to make one final point because this is already in operation. I am raising a matter on the Adjournment about which I am very angry. It concerns a perfectly decent young man from a north African country whose brother lives here. Both the young man and his brother are architects. Their family is here and he has been accepted as a refugee. He applied for naturalisation, was denied it and told he could appeal it if he gave the grounds for the denial. He was refused the grounds for denial. This is Kafka. This is the world of Joseph Stalin and the Gulag. It is crazy stuff. Yet this is what is contained in this Bill.

In a recent article the former Attorney General, John Rogers, states:

Reliance on opinion evidence in such an application gives rise to the question of how gardaí have arrived at such opinion, and inevitably this will lead to an answer wherein gardaí will say they are relying on intelligence in respect of a source for which they must claim privilege.

In other words, "We won't tell you". One is not given the right to defend one's good name. That is crucial. The article goes on to state, "so the judge will be left to rely on an opinion, the validity of which the judge cannot test or examine in any meaningful way".

This Bill is a disgrace although it may do some good things. The way in which it has been rail-roaded through this Parliament is also a disgrace. I will call for a vote on it and will vote against it.