Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

I am not naive enough to think this Bill will cure all the ills of our society or get rid of all the gangland crime in the country. Of course it will not. Senators Harris and Walsh mentioned the possibility of going further. I would not exclude this possibility, nor should the Oireachtas. I reiterate that the Bill is not what some people have made it out to be. It is not a seismic change in the criminal legal system, it is a relatively measured response, as the Garda Commissioner said, and a proportionate one.

After the murder of Shane Geoghegan we were called upon by members of Fine Gael, in particular, to take measures in this regard. The former Minister for Justice, Deputy Noonan, and others wanted internment. They wanted people lifted off the street. Others, including Deputy Noonan, raised the possibility of allowing opinion evidence - real opinion evidence, not expert evidence as provided for in the Bill - whereby a chief superintendent or senior member of the Garda would say a particular person was a member of a criminal gang. We have not gone that far. What we have done, however, is to send a strong signal. The reaction of the Oireachtas and the vote in the Upper House will send a strong signal to the wider community and particularly the criminals that if they direct or participate in an illegal criminal organisation they will receive severe penalties if found guilty - up to life imprisonment for directing activities and 15 years for participation - and that they will not be in a position to intimidate jurors. In this legislation these two offences are being made scheduled offences, which means they go to the Special Criminal Court unless the Director of Public Prosecutions otherwise directs.

Senator Boyle mentioned the 12-month review, which was included to allow us to see how the legislation operates. It may well be that after a year no case has been referred to the Special Criminal Court, which I would welcome, because the DPP has made a judgment that the ordinary courts are sufficient. However, that is the decision of the DPP alone.

I do not accept what Senator Alex White stated in respect of a lack of evidence. The Government and I made our decision based on the hard evidence presented to us by the Garda Commissioner and his senior management.