Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

It is ironic that I should be accused of rushing the legislation through. As stated in this House following the murder of Roy Collins, I was pressed to introduce various measures in the aftermath of the murder of Shane Geoghegan. I did not believe it was necessary to do so but, as Senator Harris stated, the murder of Roy Collins was a clear indication that there are people who are willing to take out the family members of those who are willing to co-operate with the criminal justice system. Roy Collins's murder was an attack on the State, on its criminal justice system and on the concept of law and order. It is clear that those to whom I refer were telling people who were willing to participate in criminal trials against them, that they were prepared to take revenge against them.

I cannot put it any better than the leader of Senator Alex White's party who, in November 2008 - following the murder of Shane Geoghegan and prior to that of Roy Collins - said, "We do not want to hear the reasons certain things cannot be done." A couple of days later, Deputy Rabbitte stated, "The public mood is to assent to measures in the present crisis that people would not otherwise tolerate."