Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I firstly want to thank Senators who spoke for the support they have expressed for this particular proposal. I think the ultimate civil right that we all have is the right to go about our lives undisturbed by criminals or by terrorists, indeed, the right to get on a plane and know that you can safely fly to your destination without any fear of a bomb exploding or a terrorist taking over the flight.

Senator Regan set out the three examples given by the European Commission of instances in which PNR has been usefully used to prevent an incident occurring. Those particular instances speak for themselves. I welcome the support expressed for the directive. I regard what we are doing in this House today and what we did in the Dáil yesterday as part of the more transparent consultative process that is now engaged in in the preparation of directives at European Union level.

Of course, in the context of the issues raised by Members, this directive is at the stage where its terms are being negotiated. The general principles are being set out and some of the issues raised today can be brought into that conversation that both myself and my officials will be having with our European counterparts. It is of course of crucial importance that any information obtained is only used for the purposes intended and that data protection issues are properly addressed. This is something that I know the European Parliament, particularly, has been very conscious of in the context of this particular proposal and has been discussed by it. It is also something the Commission is conscious of and has been discussed at Council of Ministers level.

In the context of the consultative process that has taken place, the directive will be further developed. Any additional protections necessary will be included in it and the benefit of us opting into that discussion is that we can, as a State, help to shape the ultimate architecture of the directive and ensure that it meets the two essential needs, namely, to facilitate the maximum possible co-operation between police forces across Europe in fighting terrorism and organised crime, and providing the protection to citizens that they require, while at the same time providing a proportionate balance in the context of the directive to ensure that people's rights to privacy are protected and to ensure that proper data protection measures are in place.

I have absolutely no doubt that all of us in this State who, for example, fly to the United States have no concerns about the information which is now automatically provided to US airlines which we know, because of its provision and the rules that are now operating in relation to the United States, make our flights to the United States a good deal safer than they might otherwise be. It is important to keep these things in perspective and to remain focused on what the purpose of this particular directive is.

Senator O'Toole raised an obvious issue. If one is going to provide this type of information in relation to airlines, why not provide it in relation to shipping? This of course is a directive focused on flight information and it may well be the case that at a later stage matters will progress beyond that. If one is talking about fighting terrorism and crime, all of the terrorists or criminals who make use of the freedoms that exist within Europe to ply their trades can of course access as easily ships as means of travel or indeed trains across Europe as they can flights.

This directive is initially, in its present form, set out to deal with flights between the European Union and non-EU states. I noted the concern that was expressed about its use on an intra-European Union basis. The truth is, unfortunately, within the European Union we have our own homegrown terrorists and organised criminals. In this particular State we are affected by drugs gangs whose tentacles sweep out into other parts of Europe, particularly Britain, Holland and Spain. Just as it is valuable in a non-EU context to have access to flight information, it can equally be important to do so within the European Union context, and also in the context of homegrown terrorism and in the area, unfortunately, of the growing Muslim fundamentalism which we have seen resulting in attacks in England, our nearest neighbour, which resulted in loss of life and serious injury.

In our view, and it was a view I expressed on behalf of the Government at the meeting of European Ministers, it would be artificial to provide for access to this information between the European Union and third countries and not to provide it within Europe itself, in particular in circumstances in which one could provide genuine protection for European citizens.

I noted Senator O'Toole's reference to airlines and I am sure the airline he mentioned will be delighted by his mentioning it because I think its view is that any publicity is good publicity.