Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I, too, welcome the Minister to the House. I listened with interest to what he had to say. I appreciate that coming from a legal background and given the many issues raised by him across the political spectrum he would love to be in a position to tell Members that these sections of the legislation are no longer necessary. As he pointed out, however, we do not live in an ideal world.

I believe this measure is not a restriction on freedom or liberty within this country but is a necessary means of assisting the defence of democracy. Many colleagues recently attended the funerals of the former Deputy and Attorney General, Declan Costello, and the former Taoiseach, Garret FitzGerald, both of whom had fine political careers. When I recall these people and the former Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, who thankfully is still with us, and the former Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, I am mindful of the tough legislative measures they had to introduce in the 1970s to protect and preserve this country from chaos. I recall listening to an interesting speech by the former Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, when he launched a book on the late Declan Costello some months ago in which he pointed out that the first duty of democrats is to defend the State. We need to reflect on the fact that our first duty is to defend and protect our State. Tough measures were required in the 1970s to defend the Irish State from the chaos and anarchy which some people wished to impose on us. The measures taken then, tough as they have been viewed by some of the more liberal commentators, were necessary. Unfortunately, 40 years later, some of these measures remain necessary.

We all recall with horror the afternoon of Saturday, 15 August 1998 when an unrepresentative group of fascist people murdered and maimed people in Omagh, repeating what had been done on so many tragic occasions across Northern Ireland. The political response at the time, which led to the introduction of this type of legislation, unfortunately was necessary. I listened with interest to the Minister setting out the statistics for the use of the provisions of this legislation. As he said, the people involved in such groups represent nothing but their own warped view of the world. Fortunately, many have moved from that warped view of the world towards the political process. Our aim and aspiration must be to ensure all those outside the political process who believe violence, mayhem and terrorism can work are encouraged to engage in the political process. While the door must always remain open to them we must always have in place firm security and justice measures to protect and defend our State.

I wholeheartedly welcome the motion as put forward by the Minister. Sadly, the statistics speak for themselves. These measures are necessary as a defence against those who, because they fail politically and because their view is not accepted by the majority, opt to bomb, maim, murder and force their agenda into the public arena. I support the continuation of the measures necessary to defend our State. I wish the Minister and the Garda Síochána well in their endeavours. The Garda Síochána has been on the front line in facing down those trying to blow this State apart for the past 40 years. The members of the force have a tough job to do and have been doing it well. The Garda Síochána and Army must always be supported by all true democrats in this House.