Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 21, line 20, after "Síochána" to insert the following:

"who for the purposes of this section shall be a Garda not below the rank of Sergeant".

Part 4 of the Bill deals with detention and re-arrest. The Bill suggests that if at any time during the detention of a person pursuant to this section a member of the Garda Síochána, with reasonable cause, suspects the person of having committed an offence, referred to in the subsection as "being an offence other than the offence to which the detention relates", and if the member of the Garda Síochána in charge of the station at the time has reasonable grounds for believing that the continued detention of the person is necessary for the proper investigation of the other offence, the person may continue to be detained in relation to the other offence.

There is a number of elements here linked to the safeguards which should be included in this section. The amendment requires that the member of the Garda should not be below the rank of sergeant. That would add an element of oversight and authority to a decision involving detaining someone in the circumstances provided for in the Bill. I commend the amendment to the House.