Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for outlining the purpose of the Bill. He has not explained, however, why it was necessary to guillotine the discussion on this Bill in the Lower House and the reason it is necessary that we deal with all Stages of this Bill today. I assume that is taking place at his prompting.

I raise that issue because we all share the same concerns about gangland and organised crime, which I will come to, but the divisions created on this Bill in the Oireachtas would not have been necessary if the Minister had allowed adequate time for debate and consideration of amendments both in committee and on the different Stages. The Minister makes my case in that regard because he has just referred to accepting an amendment from Fine Gael but I understand only six amendments were debated in the Dáil. If there had been further debate on the other amendments and the matters teased out, the Minister might have found it wise to accept other amendments. Guillotining the legislation and rushing it through this House, and not having the Dáil in session to receive the Bill if amendments are made in this House, means that the whole process is guillotined. That is the root of the division on this issue.

On the Bill itself, Fine Gael agrees with the principle of the Bill. We agree with making it an offence to direct, participate in or actively support criminal gangs and we believe it is appropriate to make all of those matters offences. There is no division regarding the principle of the Bill.

The background to this is that we have moved from a position of zero tolerance, which was the electoral platform of Fianna Fáil in 1997. Twelve years later, far from that being realised, we are in a position where gangland crime has flourished under the watch of this Minister and previous Ministers of the Fianna Fáil-led Administrations in the past 12 years. Since 2005 there have been 102 gun murders, as a result of which there were only four convictions. There have been 15 gangland murders to date in 2009. There were 20 in 2008. That is what has occurred under the watch of the Minister. It is an admission of failure, in setting out the justification for this Bill, that the system of administration and justice is ineffective to deal with these issues but that is the position we are faced with and that is the reason we support the main elements of this Bill.

Everyone has had a view on the Bill including the criminal Bar, the Irish Human Rights Commission, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and former judges but it is for the Oireachtas, after careful scrutiny of this legislation, to make a judgment on whether the legislation is necessary and proportionate and, in that regard, whether there are adequate safeguards to ensure it is upheld by the courts and found, when challenged, to be constitutional. That is the only concern we in Fine Gael have with regard to this legislation. We wish to play our role in scrutinising it, ensuring it is immune from legal challenge and that it does the job it is intended to do.

There has been much talk about intimidation of witnesses and jurors. I have no difficulty with the concerns expressed about the intimidation of jurors, whether it is occurring wholesale or in specific instances, in terms of gangland crime. It is clear, however, that we cannot know that because what juror whose life or family is threatened if he or she acts in a particular way will ever reveal that is happening because then the threat will be realised? Given the insidious and pernicious nature of gangland crime and the extent of intimidation, I see justification for having recourse to the Special Criminal Courts. In debates in this House I have indicated that I believe the Special Criminal Courts have a role in that area.

That is not just a political judgment. The Special Criminal Courts, which originally were designed to deal with subversive activities and the threat to the State, have been found, as the Minister said, to be appropriate in dealing with other forms of crime and offences. The Oireachtas Library & Research Service has outlined the number of cases in which this issue has been addressed by the courts. In the case of The People (DPP) v. Quilligan, Mr. Justice Walsh in the Supreme Court stated that it does not follow that the power of the Government to issue a proclamation to the effect that the ordinary courts are inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of peace and order must necessarily apply only with reference to the type of offences created by Parts 2 and 3 of the Offences Against the State Act. He went on to state that there could well be a grave situation in dealing with ordinary gangsterism or well financed and well organised large scale drug dealing or other situations where it might be believed or established that juries were, for some corrupt reason or by virtue of threats or illegal interference, being prevented from doing justice. That goes back to 1986 and it is, perhaps, where we are today.

There was also a legal challenge in the case of Kavanagh v. Ireland [1996]. The applicant argued that, even though the appropriate certificate had been granted by the DPP that his was a case in which ordinary courts were inadequate, the continuance of the Special Criminal Court for avowedly non-subversive offences was manifestly unconstitutional. Judge Barrington found that "the issue involved is not the nature of the offences but the adequacy, in the opinion of the Government or the Director of Public Prosecutions, of the ordinary courts to secure the effective administration of justice in relation to them". Hogan and Whyte in J. M. Kelly: The Irish Constitution (Dublin 2004) , conclude that the practical effect of this decision is "to render it all but impossible to mount a legal challenge to a decision of the Government to establish or maintain in force the Special Criminal Court". The Bill deems these offences as appropriate to be dealt with by the Special Criminal Court. In the case of gangland crime it is appropriate to establish the legal basis for this.

The real question is what safeguards are being put in place. A number of amendments have been tabled by Fine Gael. We see the uncorroborated opinion of a garda, the departure from the principle of jury trial and secret hearings for the extension of detention as problems. There should, at least, be some record of those proceedings. In these types of issues, the introduction of safeguards makes interference with the constitutional right to liberty proportionate. That is why Fine Gael believes that proper debate on these amendments and proper scrutiny of the Bill can improve the legislation and ensure that it is fit for purpose.

The Minister presents the Bill as a panacea for every ill. This Bill, the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill and other recent criminal law legislation leave the Minister with no excuse not to ensure more effective detection and prosecution of crime. The record, to date, is dismal. The Minister says this Bill is very important and that he has information from the Garda Commissioner and from all his intelligence resources and advisers that it is important. A legislative response to recent atrocities and brutal killings of innocent people is required. When this Bill is enacted there can be no excuses.

It is not legislation which is getting in the way of effective law enforcement and it is not always the lack of legislation which creates the barrier to effective law enforcement. There is an inconsistency between this legislation and the Minister's decisions regarding the allocation of resources. We are freezing Garda numbers and cutting Garda overtime. Key equipment is required by the Garda. Digital radio is only now being provided. A DNA database, which is required by EU legislation, is long promised but has not been delivered. In 2009, there was a very modest, inadequate and ineffective increase in the budgetary allocation to Operation Anvil. With regard to the importation of illegal drugs, one boat monitors more than 3,300 km of coastline, there is one mobile scanner for all ports and a virtual free-for-all at smaller and private airports. The failure of the Government adequately to resource the Garda Síochána and the Customs and Excise service and to provide them with the most modern equipment is a serious impediment to effective law enforcement.

The south-west coast has become a favourite arrival point for major drugs importation. In 1996, €125 million worth of cocaine was found on a boat in Cork Harbour, in 1998, €61 million worth was seized in Kinsale and in 2007, €444 million worth was seized in Dunlough Bay in west Cork. More recently, the largest seizure in the history of the State was made 200 miles off the south-west coast when a joint EU task force traced a yacht carrying €500 million worth of cocaine. The resourcing of the Garda and the Customs and Excise service is vital.

The Director of Public Prosecutions has stated that the reduction in the budget for his office will mean it will not be able effectively to carry out its task in the prosecution of crime. I do not understand why the Minister is silent on this issue. Fine Gael emphasises the importance of this legislation and supports it, subject to adequate scrutiny and the inclusion of adequate safeguards to ensure it works effectively.

The Minister has not addressed the prioritisation of resources for the forces of law and order. There must be a balance between introducing and enforcing legislation. We recently passed the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill. If that legislation is to be effective, we need the most modern surveillance equipment and training resources for those who will operate it.

Fine Gael will submit amendments on Committee Stage to improve the Bill and make it more effective and fit for purpose. Our major objection is to the manner in which the Minister conducts his business in the Dáil and in this House. To rush legislation which is important for law enforcement and fundamental rights is unacceptable.