David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy McGinley, whom I know will transmit to the Minister whatever ideas are brought forward today. I am a little concerned about the infringement of human and civil liberties contained in part 3. I am not sure how imminent any threat brought on by the G8 summit is. I presume that Britain and Northern Ireland leaned on us to introduce this legislation.

What provision, if any, is made for emergency services during a blackout period of six hours or more? How can someone with a medical emergency get in touch with the relevant authorities? Must one light a fire and blow smoke signals? We ought to consider these sorts of eventualities if there is a possibility of introducing these measures.

Ireland, as with every other country, has made a hames of the drug question because it did not confront it honestly.

We allowed sentimentality to get involved. Legalising marijuana and other drugs would strike at the financial core. That will not be done for quite a long time.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh referred to the original CAB legislation. When it was passed - which was as a direct result of the late Tony Gregory and not an initiative from Government - I supported it in the House. I tabled an amendment asking that the money which was bled out of the veins of communities should be ring-fenced and reinvested in facilities for young people. If that is what Senator Ó Clochartaigh was talking about, I agree with him 100%.

Cigarette and fuel smuggling have been referred to. I am concerned about section 3, where orders made by District Court judges under section 17 of the 2010 Act are to be made ex parteand not in public. There is an increasing concentration of power that is not accountable in this country and that worries me.

I would like to know what PEPs are. We are surrounded by PIPs, PEPs, smeeks, smacks, smogs and all the rest, and I do not know who they are. They might be me. I have been politically exposed for most of my political career. I also had my telephone bugged by a previous Government. Who are politically exposed people and why should they be monitored?

My final point concerns banks. As citizens we already suffer. I see no immense appetite for terrorism in this country. I am sure money-laundering is happening. People try to buy prize bonds to support the tottering State. They have to produce fingerprints, dental records, photographic identification, a utility bill and every other bloody thing. I do not know for what they are looking. We are told it is all to do with money-laundering. The same happens in a bank, where one is not allowed to do this, that or the other because of money-laundering. It is a farrago of nonsense to protect the banks from the customers because the one thing they loathe, even more than their staff whom they cannot stand, is the ordinary decent customer.

There is already an impact on people. I have never known it to be so difficult to open a bank account, even in a bank in which one already has an account. One has to produce a lot of information. One can almost forget about buying prize bonds because it is so difficult. Money-laundering is what people are worried about. All I can say is that the laundries seem to be doing remarkably well if there is so much of it around. I have not noticed it, but perhaps I am naive and innocent.