Tom Parlon (Laois-Offaly, Progressive Democrats)

The resolution before the House today seeks approval for the continuance in force of those sections of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 which would otherwise cease to be in operation on 30 June next. In previous years, this kind of resolution was usually moved in June. However, to avoid any uncertainty surrounding sittings of either the Dáil or this House between now and 30 June, the decision was made to bring forward the consideration of this issue. A similar approach occurred in 2002 and it is fully in accordance with the law.

The 1998 Act was enacted in the aftermath of the Omagh bomb of August 1998, which claimed the lives of 29 innocent people and injured more than 200 others. That callous atrocity occurred a few months after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement and was clearly designed to derail the peace process. Thankfully, that end was not achieved. We are now moving inexorably towards an historic new beginning with the re-institution of devolved administration in Northern Ireland. There is an ongoing criminal action against a person in Northern Ireland for those murders which arose from the Omagh bombing. A civil action is also being pursued by the families of the victims against a number of persons. The re-trial of another person in connection with the bombing is also pending in this jurisdiction. Moreover, the investigation into the bombing remains open on both sides of the Border, and there continues to be excellent co-operation between the Garda authorities and the PSNI in this regard.

In recognition of the exceptional circumstances surrounding the enactment of the 1998 Act, there was general agreement that certain sections of the Act should be regularly revisited by the Oireachtas. The purpose of this recurring Oireachtas scrutiny is to determine if current circumstances justify the continuance in force of those provisions. Accordingly, by virtue of resolutions passed by the Dáil and the Seanad on 14 and 15 June 2006, respectively, the relevant sections of the 1998 Act will cease to operate on and from 30 June next unless a further resolution is passed by each House, authorising those sections to continue to operate for a further period not exceeding 12 months.

Part of the process surrounding the Seanad's consideration of the renewal of sections of the Act requires the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to lay a report on their operation before the House prior to the resolution being moved. The Minister laid such a report before this House on 17 April. The conclusion of that report is that the relevant sections of the 1998 Act should remain in force for a further 12 months. In the first instance, this is the firm view of the Garda Síochána, which considers the Act to be vital in the continuing fight against terrorism. Secondly, the harsh reality is that, notwithstanding very positive developments in respect of the Provisional IRA, the dissident republican threat remains real and ever present.

As evidence of this unfortunate conclusion, I refer Senators to the 15th report of the Independent Monitoring Commission, published yesterday, which focuses on the period from December 2006 to February 2007. In that report, the Continuity IRA is found to have been responsible for a pipe bomb which failed to explode next to Lurgan PSNI station in December 2006. The Continuity IRA also attempted to acquire weapons and undertook terrorist training. It was engaged in smuggling, fuel laundering and robbery. Furthermore, the report states that the Continuity IRA was responsible for two murders. These will be more fully reported in the IMC's next report, as they fall outside the scope of the current report. The IMC's overall assessment of the Continuity IRA is that it remains active but, for political reasons coming up to the elections last month in Northern Ireland, it was possibly less active than it might have been.

Óglaigh na hÉireann, a relatively new splinter group of the Continuity IRA, has recently become dangerously active. In particular, it claimed responsibility for three pipe bomb attacks against PSNI premises and homes of PSNI officers, of which one functioned but only to a limited extent. Moreover, it is reported that persons associated with Óglaigh na hÉireann were discovered in possession of bomb making and other terrorist equipment in February 2007.

The IMC states that the Real IRA was responsible for a failed mortar attack on Craigavon PSNI station in December 2006. The organisation has continued to engage in serious crime, including smuggling, fuel laundering and robbery, and it has also continued to recruit and attempt to procure weapons. Although the Real IRA was less active recently, the IMC assesses that this was purely a tactical decision, so as not to weaken the position of the anti-policing republican candidates in the run-up to the recent Northern Ireland elections.

The pattern of dissident republicans lending their bomb-making expertise to organised criminal gangs is now well established and has become something of a cottage industry for some individuals. One of the most recent examples of this was in County Clare earlier this month, when a viable device was found under the car of a targeted individual. This is a deeply disturbing development and one which the Garda Síochána is actively seeking to counter.

In addition to domestic terrorist groups, the international terrorist threat continues unabated. The most recent example of this in Europe was the planned liquid explosive attacks on civil aviation targets between Britain and the US, which were thankfully foiled in August 2006. The consequences of those foiled attacks have been felt around the world through much more rigorous and extensive security arrangements at airports, including Irish airports. Although the extent of the terrorist threat within the European Union varies greatly from one member state to another, it would be naive to imagine that Ireland is completely immune from these new forms of terrorism.

The Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 was enacted to deal with this international terrorist threat by enabling the application of the Offences against the State Acts, including the 1998 Act, against international terrorist groups and individuals. Other countries have enacted even more stringent legislation in response to the international terrorist threat. In Britain, for instance, 28-day detention is now permitted. In that context, the provisions of the 1988 Act can be seen as a very measured response. However, I would caution against any complacency in our response to the threat from terrorism.

I will not rehearse all the statistics provided by the Garda authorities showing the extent of the use made of the various provisions of the 1998 Act, as this information is already fully set out in the report laid before the House last week. However, in the reporting period in question, that is, from 1 June 2006, to 7 April 2007, the total number of persons arrested under section 30 of the Offences against the State Act 1939, as amended, was 692. Of these, 247 were arrested using the provisions of the Offences against the State Act 1939, as amended by the 1998 Act, or had the provisions of the 1998 Act invoked against them. In the same reporting period, 21 convictions were secured in the courts, with a further 102 persons awaiting trial. These facts speak for themselves in terms of the continued need for the 1998 Act.

The unfortunate fact remains that dissident republican groups remain active, ruthless and determined to strike if given the opportunity. They remain resolutely opposed to the Good Friday Agreement and to the peace and devolution of powers it has brought. They remain determined to destroy that agreement and I suggest they remain prepared and willing to kill indiscriminately to this end. As long as they continue to exist, there must be robust counter measures available to the State. The Oireachtas, and the people of this State, would rightly question the Government's commitment to defeating these organisations if we did not ensure adequate legislative provisions to meet that threat.

It is worth remembering, not as rhetoric but as a reflection of reality, that a terrorist organisation needs to get lucky only once to cause significant loss of life. It is essential, therefore, to have the means to prevent such acts. For such powers to work, they must work preventively. Otherwise, we risk handing the initiative to those organisations. We cannot do so. The Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 is one element of the State's ongoing defence against the terrorist threat. I urge this House not to countenance weakening any of the tools the State has at its disposal in the fight against terrorism.