Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)

We touched on this in respect of the preceding amendments and on Second Stage. I cannot accept the amendment on the basis that doing so would give rise to the suggestion that opinion evidence as to the guilt of a person is provided for in the Bill; it is not.

Section 13 provides that nothing would prevent the court from excluding evidence that would otherwise be admissible if, in the opinion of the court, the prejudicial effect of the evidence outweighs its probative value. The provision in section 7 resembles section 3 of the Offences Against the State Act, which requires evidence to be given by an officer of An Garda Síochána not below the rank of chief superintendent. However, under the 1972 Act the evidence of the chief superintendent is to a person's membership of the unlawful organisation, i.e., the offence. That is not the case here.

Senator Bacik stated she is opposing this section. However, the section is particularly important because it endeavours to surmount the difficulty that has been present in the fight against gangland crime, that is, establishing proof of the existence of a gang. To omit the section would take away one of the very important building blocks we believe is necessary to proceed to the next step, that is, to prove the accused is a member of a particular gang and committed offences under the legislation.