Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the new Minister for Justice and Law Reform, Deputy Smith, and thank him for his exposé on the Bill. As he indicated, it is a response to the High Court judgment in the Dillon v. DPP case of 2007, which itself very much relied on a New York city court judgment, Young v. New York City Transit Authority where it was found that to have a blanket ban on begging interfered with the constitutional rights of the defendant in terms of communication and association. The decision in the Dillon case struck down the Vagrancy (Ireland) Act 1847. The decision raised a number of important constitutional and legal issues as to whether it was appropriate to outlaw begging. The Bill does not outlaw begging per se but it does outlaw it when it is accompanied by other acts, namely, harassment, intimidation, assault, threatening behaviour or obstructing the passage of persons or vehicles. In not outlawing begging per se and in ensuring that for an offence to be created or committed there must be such accompanying acts, the Bill is a proportionate response to the lacuna in the law which has existed since the Dillon case. The legislation is necessary and I support it.

I realise that in the Dáil, amendments suggested by Fine Gael and other Opposition parties were accepted or at least reflected in Government amendments. The Bill is tailored to a problem it is designed to resolve and it provides a balanced approach to it. It deals with the most difficult issues concerning organised begging and begging undertaken with threatening and aggressive behaviour. The Bill leaves a good deal of discretion to the Garda Síochána which is appropriate in the circumstances. Clearly, the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Acts were insufficient on their own to deal with this issue and this is why the Bill is necessary, given all the circumstances.

When one discusses the issue of begging it is in the context of the extensive homelessness and poverty that exists. Most people accept that begging in general is born out of necessity and there is no justification for outlawing it per se. However, where it is accompanied by aggravating and offending acts that interfere with other people's rights, there must be a proportionate response. The Bill provides for this and it has my support.