Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the Senators who made contributions to this Bill here today for the thoughtful nature of them. Everybody recognised the importance of these directives in tackling crime.

Certainly, the question of borders does not apply to a lot of crime, as Senator Brennan stated. So much crime is now cross-border and international, and needs to be dealt with by international mechanisms. We need to strengthen all our international mechanisms, within and, as Senator Power referenced, outside of the EU. This is an ongoing issue that we will have to monitor carefully and on which we will have to continue to develop our legislation.

I attended the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online which was held recently between the US and the EU. The only way that we will be able to deal effectively with that crime, and the crimes of human trafficking, drugs, criminal laundering, is by international co-operation between our states and by, as I stated already, police forces co-operating in more intelligence-led operations, following the money and sharing police intelligence. That is increasingly necessary. We need more sophisticated legislation in order to deal effectively with this criminal activity.

I thank all the Senators for their contributions. Senator Power spoke about the importance of working internationally in this way and the international co-operation that is needed. She referenced the recent successful operation of the coast of Cork which resulted in €80 million worth of drugs, which were being attempted to be imported illegally, being found. That was a perfect example of the kind of international co-operation that is being carried out. In fact, a lot of it goes unnoticed. When we see that sort of successful operation, it is important to recognise it.

Senator Power spoke about the importance of the Naval Service, and I agree with her. Many years ago, as a spokesperson on Defence for Fine Gael, I wrote a paper on the importance of the Naval Service. I am pleased to see in yesterday's budget from the Department of Defence that yet another naval ship has been commissioned. It will help in the kind of operations at sea about which she spoke. Senator Conway, likewise, commented on the importance of this legislation and the need to have more instruments that we can use in order to be effective in tackling cross-border crime.

Senator Ó Clochartaigh made a number of points. I thank him for supporting this legislation. I take his point that it is important that legislation that impacts across borders between countries respects fundamental human rights. I certainly would not disagree with that. In particular, he mentioned data protection. I would say that the balance is between the right to privacy and the right to have intelligence information that will help in dealing with criminal activity. We must strike that balance, and it is quite difficult to get it right because we must ensure in data protection that there is also access to necessary information that will help law enforcement. Equally, the right to privacy must be respected. That is something that is very much on the minds of the Justice Ministers from across the EU. This was discussed last week in Luxembourg at the most recent Justice and Home Affairs meeting.

In answer to Senator Ó Clochartaigh's question on the Equality Vote, the only reason the Vote is down is because we have made provision for an independent Vote for the new commission of €6 million. The new commission is being given its own budget to deal with its own affairs and it has come out of the Equality Vote in the Department of Justice and Equality. There is no reduction other than that.

On the role of the President in this area, the President is independent and makes his own decisions. I would just make that comment.

As far as the Garda fleet is concerned, urgent investment was needed in the Garda fleet. I was pleased to be able to announce that there will be 400 new vehicles because the fleet is old. This will make a difference and will add to the fleet that is there. Every year there is a proportion of cars that go off the road because of the amount of mileage on them and they are beyond the date on which they should be used.

I thank Senator Higgins for her support and the points she made on the Bill. She asked specifically about the decisions and whether they must be made by a court. The definition section of the Bill deals with that. What it states is that if the decision, for example, in relation to a fine, is being pursued, it must have gone through court proceedings. The Bill states, "an authority of the issuing State other than a court in respect of a criminal offence under the law of the issuing State, provided that the person concerned has had an opportunity to have the case tried by a court having jurisdiction in particular in criminal matters". The conditions under which various bodies can send on the fine are laid down under the definition section of the Bill. There are those safeguards.

I thank Senator Brennan for his comments about cross-border crime. That is an issue of concern in a number of areas. I recently met the British-Irish Parliamentary Body, co-chaired by Deputy Feighan, which is dealing with this and we had a useful discussion on fuel smuggling, cigarette smuggling and the various issues which are of particular North-South relevance. That is an ongoing challenge for both the PSNI and An Garda Síochána. I am pleased to tell the House that there is good co-operation between the PSNI and the Garda. Such co-operation is probably at an all time high.

I thank the Members of the House for their contribution to the Second Stage of this important legislation here today.