Mark Dearey (Green Party)

I also support this legislation because, as the Minister stated, the dissident threat is and has been for some time at a high level and recently manifested in a number of highly disturbing incidents. Gun murders have taken place on this side of the Border for the first time in many years and there has been a series of disruptive and sinister events north of the Border, particularly in respect of the train service and so on. I have been caught up in the latter and appreciate that such actions do enormous damage to our name when visitors are discommoded. This happened to me during a conference and it ruined the visit and people's impressions. While these may be soft tissues, they reverberate. The extension of the offences against the State legislation is important, given the current position and the increased dissident threat.