Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and the initiative of the Minister, Deputy Shutter, in introducing the Bill. As the Minister of State has pointed out, the section dealing with money laundering is an interim measure and further developments will take place.

Notwithstanding the interim nature of this measure, it must be supported. The other section of the Bill, which deals, in layman's language, with mobile phone signals and technological aspects, is very pressing in light of forthcoming events. It is only appropriate that we fully support the Minister in his efforts in this area.

I welcome the comments by the Fianna Fáil spokesperson, Senator Denis O'Donovan, and his generous support for the legislation. He is correct that the vast majority of politicians in this House have, over the years, united in supporting the Garda, law and order and security in this country. Long may it be the case. It is fair to say, however, that it has always been the case, since the foundation not only of the Oireachtas but of civilisation itself, that there will be a clash between civil liberties and state security. Civil liberties are very important and must be guarded and protected. The first duty of government, however, is the security of the state and its citizens, and that is the context in which this legislation comes before us. We in this House must be mindful of doing everything possible to ensure the rights of citizens and civil liberties. At the same time, where law needs to be changed to provide additional security on behalf of every citizen of this State, we must be supportive of those changes.

The briefing we received from the excellent Oireachtas Library and Research Service includes a section on the scale of money-laundering in this country. While we are advised that it is not possible to provide exact figures, there is reference to the staggering estimate in the 2011 report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime that the moneys involved globally in 2009 amounted to some $1.6 trillion, which equates to 2.7% of global GDP. We in this country are not insulated from such issues and for every worldwide problem there is an Irish aspect. Senator O'Donovan referred, for example, to the debate in this House last week on diesel laundering. I agree with him that our attempts to grapple with this problem have not been wholly successful. In fact, we had a disappointing case only a few days ago in which a seized truck and its contents were taken from the location in which they were being held. All the evidence in that case is gone.

We must be vigilant in our efforts to stamp out this activity. Together with fuel laundering, there is also a serious problem with cigarette laundering. Whatever resources are required, within the financial capacity of the State, must be put in place. In the case of Border areas, there seems to be spillover from the days of the tragic conflict in Northern Ireland, with new gangs masquerading as political organisations engaged in illegality on a huge scale. Perhaps we have not yet invested the time, resources and funds to tackle those groups head-on. We must do so without delay, given the scale of the overall problem. It is apparent here in the capital city and in larger towns and cities throughout the country that the illegal trade in cigarettes is a major problem.

We are dealing with a modern manifestation of criminality. I saw an old episode of "Hawaii Five-0" on one of the Sky channels last week. In that simpler time, the baddies in their fast car were chased by the police in their faster car. If the baddies switched to a fast boat, they were inevitably apprehended by the good-guy cops in the faster boat. Now, however, we are in a much changed world in which terrorism and criminality have advanced to a new level. We must be willing to invest time, resources and taxpayers' money in tackling these activities.

This is because every illegal cigarette and every illegal litre of fuel sold is at a cost to the taxpayer. Whatever resources are required should be provided.

The second aspect of the Bill is probably better from the headlines perspective. It relates to mobile telephone technology. We need this legislation to give the Minister and, therefore, the Garda, power to shut off telephone signals. Tragically, we have seen in recent years that terrorists have developed their capacity not only in scale but in ingenuity, such that mobile telephones have become a central part of the terrorist network. The Minister of State has outlined the Minister's proposals relating to regulations and safety measures. We are not moving towards a police state; we are simply putting in place what is needed by a modern society to protect itself.

An event will be held on the island of Ireland in the near future and world leaders of significant importance will be here, although I imagine every world leader believes he or she is of importance. Presumably, the Bill is required as part of the security measures for that visit, but it is required for other reasons and it should be supported. We must be internally vigilant and advanced and we must be willing to take on board all new counter-terrorism activities as they are presented to us, whether they relate to money-laundering or technologies. The money-laundering aspects of the Bill will be revisited in the House when new regulations and legislation are required but we must pass this legislation this afternoon on Second Stage. Likewise, I presume the mobile telephone signal issue has been flagged as a problem and a solution to it is required. I welcome the legislation in this regard.

We have made great progress on this island in reducing paramilitary activities to an almost non-existent level but new replacements have come in, including drugs gangs, and they engage in criminality and money-laundering activities. This is a new level of another type of terrorism which we must deal with now. This legislation is part of but not entirely the solution. I welcome it, I thank the Minister of State for his presentation and I look forward to supporting the Bill.