Dominic Hannigan (Labour)

I welcome this Bill and I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I commend the significant work that the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform has done on the Bill. I read the Bill and reviewed the debates on, and amendments to, it and it seems clear that its provisions are necessary and fit for purpose in the current climate. I commend my party colleague, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, on the work he has done on this issue in the past two years. I recognise the tremendous contribution of Senator Eugene Regan who tabled a Bill in Private Members' time last year which contributed positively to the debate and kept the issue on the agenda. At the time I had some trepidation about the Bill but it kept the issue alive and as a result this legislation is introduced.

I am confident that the procedural checks and balances in the Bill succeed in the difficult task of bestowing wide-ranging but proportional legislative powers in the face of an unprecedented threat to society from organised crime. I see no reason to criticise its spirit and central purpose. It is unconscionable that the Collins family in Limerick suffer further intimidation following the horrific death of their son, Roy. In the middle of May 5,000 people marched silently in solidarity with them in that city. A report in the Limerick Independent quoted a female marcher as saying "We're not going to take it anymore; people are angry, people are afraid, people are intimidated and we shouldn't have to live like that anymore." None of us needs wonder at the likely outcome had that woman spoke on the record.

The sentiment of that march captures the necessity of this Bill. There is an urgent need to send the message that challenges from organised criminals will be viewed as an attack on the State. In recent years there has been a collapse in people's trust in the institutions of civic and political life. Many of the cogs in the machinery of society, such as the church, politicians and the banks, have suffered a haemorrhage of public confidence as scandal after scandal breeds cynicism and detachment. This Bill provides us with an opportunity to fulfil at least partially our first and most important commitment to people, to protect their basic human right to live without fear of intimidation, harm and terror.

The need for the Bill is obvious. Deputy Charlie Flanagan pointed out that of the 171 prosecutions for shooting in the past decade only 12% resulted in a conviction. The tools that the Garda and associated agencies, such as the Revenue Commissioners, have at their disposal are inadequate. Not only are criminal gangs evading the law, they manage to go about their business while ignoring a hamstrung and weak set of criminal justice procedures.

While I welcome the Bill and look forward to its speedy enactment, I wish to raise several issues. I apologise in advance if these concerns have been adequately dealt with on Committee Stage in the Dáil. I echo the concerns of my colleague, Deputy Rabbitte, about the applicability of the complaints provisions. How can one avail of a redress procedure if one is not aware of the surveillance in the first place? Presumably if one manages to seek redress that indicates a failure in the surveillance operation. I appreciate the difficulties in achieving a balance and put forward that query in an operational rather than an ideological context. How was the figure of €5,000 arrived at as a suitable sum for redress? It seems like an arbitrary figure. Will all records of the authorisation papers from the relevant authorities enacting surveillance be retained for only three years after that enactment or until the day after the possibility of an appeal is exhausted?

It is important to have exacting standards for information retention. Once this kind of data is collected it will have a very high value for the people whom it targets. In certain State agencies and others in recent years, laptops and desk tops containing highly sensitive information have disappeared. Encryption is not the rule. Many agencies encrypt their data but others do not. While I realise that the two situations are not directly comparable, many agencies have a cavalier and dangerous attitude to data security and that must be addressed.

Several speakers mentioned resourcing, which is very important if the measures in the Bill are to have any degree of success. Reports in last Sunday's newspapers referred to cutbacks in Garda numbers in the Templemore training college and to closures of rural stations. While the country is broke, closing Garda stations and taking gardaí off the beat will send out a message that contravenes the spirit of this Bill.

The other Deputy for Tallaght stated proudly that he will never take the view that young people will not turn to crime if they have community centres. Surely the Deputy is aware that nobody is proposing community centres as a cure for these problems. The broader societal aims of community support and early intervention in deprived areas, however, are crucial. Bills such as this deal with those who threaten ordinary, decent people across the country. The State, however, has a duty of care to young people in these areas. Socially, morally and financially we must complement a punitive approach to criminals with an intervention-based approach to the next generation.

I mentioned an acclaimed report from The British Journal of Criminology which makes the express link between criminality and learned parental behaviour. The authors of the report found that the children of persistent criminals commit more delinquent acts during every phase of their lives than those of non-offending parents.

My colleague, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, yesterday highlighted disturbing research by Dr. Niamh Hourican that suggests that in parts of Limerick and other areas young children are being dragged into a life of crime and intimidation. The research finding suggests that criminal gangs and drug dealers have used children as pawns to intimidate individuals and communities. Without early intervention and investment in these communities the estates and open spaces that these children occupy serve as incubators for the next generation of criminals. The communities and good people in these areas need and deserve our support and they want action. This Bill is appropriate and timely, but I urge the Minister of State to accept or at least acknowledge that without meaningful intervention in the communities involved we will continue to visit this worsening crisis well into the future.