David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I again welcome the Minister to the House and note he is one of the most frequent visitors to the House due to the nature of his portfolio. It was unfortunate that Senator Bradford again used the occasion to give us a distorted history lesson. At some point Senator Bradford and his colleagues might reflect on the involvement of the British state, British authorities and British armed forces in the conflict as well, and we would have a calmer, more reflective discussion on what happened in the conflict, and not just have people make very political speeches, as some Members of the Minister's party seem to do on occasion.

Like Senator Barrett, I would call on all of those armed groups which are still in existence to cease and to disband in favour of the peace process. Senator Barrett asked why these groups are not in either the Oireachtas or the Assembly but people who represent these groups have put themselves forward for election and they have failed to get elected. The Minister spoke earlier about the last elections in the North, where Sinn Féin was returned as the largest Nationalist party. Huge strides have been made for that community in the North because of the good work which was done in the context of the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement. I again call on all of those armed groups to disband in support of the peace process and to recognise that the people overwhelmingly voted for the Good Friday Agreement.

It would be remiss of me not to state that the report into the operations of this Act, which the Minister makes on an annual basis, is grossly insufficient for the purposes of scrutiny. Those who read the report will know it consists of a one-page introduction, four pages of appendices and one other page which simply lists the number of times the sections in the Offences against the State Act were used. Given these are supposed to be emergency powers and that we are seeing the suspension of fundamental rights, surely a comprehensive report is required which would highlight the need for the suspension of these powers to continue. The report is derisory and unacceptable.

To turn to the figures contained in the report, during the period covered last year, the number of persons arrested under the Act was 764 yet the total number of convictions secured under the Act for the same period was just 38. This raises serious questions. The huge discrepancy which exists between the annual level of arrests the annual conviction rate points to the possibility that the provisions are being used for trawling purposes. I am concerned by that, as, I hope, is the Minister. Will he clarify this?

Senator Bacik alluded to the announcement that there will be no recruitment of gardaí for the next two years. The measure we are discussing extends the powers of the legislation and provides draconian powers in certain areas, but it does not address the real issues, such as providing adequate resources to the Garda and ensuring it has the resources to do its job. It is not only politicians but also gardaí who argue that what they need are resources. It is not all about legislation, but also about ensuring gardaí have the resources they need. There is something perverse in extending these kinds of powers on the one hand and on the other having an embargo on recruitment. This does not seem to make sense.

I hope the Minister will agree that gangland and drug crime are also serious issues. We in Sinn Féin have tabled comprehensive proposals to the Minister and the chief superintendents across all of the authorities on which our members serve in terms of the joint policing committees. Our proposals would deal robustly with these kinds of issues. The Minister's attention should be on this area because of the serious problems in cities throughout the State where gangland criminals and drug gangs operate with impunity. The Minister's time would be better used to deal with those gangs and issues.

The context of this discussion has been clearly set by the Minister in the context of the groups to which he referred. It is important for Sinn Féin and all parties in this House to call on those groups to cease their activities. We must convince them that violence is unacceptable. They need to disband in favour of the peace process. We must all engage with these groups to ensure we move them away from violence and get them to accept the will of the people, as expressed in the Good Friday Agreement. That would be a better use of our time. I am concerned about extending these powers again. I do not accept, as previous speakers have accepted, that these powers need to be extended. They should not be in existence. Fundamental human rights and justice issues arise in the context of extending these powers and I call on the Minister to reflect on that.