Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim céad fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. I dtosach báire, ba mhaith liom a rá go bhfuil mé féin agus mo pháirtí ag tacú leis an mBille seo. Tuigimid gur Bille teicniúil go leor é ach go bhfuil sé fíorthábhachtach ag an am céanna.

My party will support the Bill. It is technical in nature, but we should underscore its importance. I join others in commending the work of Customs and Excise and the Revenue Commissioners in carrying out their job in a professional manner. Yesterday, I attended my local city joint policing committee. The issue of the amount of drugs entering some of our urban areas was raised again. There has been an increase in Galway recently, particularly in heroin. The work done by Customs and Excise in trying to stamp out these practices is important and sometimes precarious.

Sinn Féin tabled amendments in the Dáil because we believed the Bill could be improved. It should be obvious to all that the way to tackle smuggling and laundering is through cross-Border policies and co-operation. I note Senators' comments about the Brexit, as it is being termed. It would cause major difficulties on this island. Ironically, we are concerned about the voting rights of Irish expatriates in Britain, who will vote on the Brexit, when we do not seem too concerned about making them return on boats, trains, aeroplanes and automobiles to vote in our referendums.

Sinn Féin is on the record as having raised some concerns about the Bill, such as the measures empowering the holding of goods on what could be an indefinite basis and the legal exceptions that could be read as providing immunity for customs officers in some cases. However, I recognise that this is not the intention and that the Bill is a good one.

Our customs system is part of an EU system, which raises other important issues, such as the importing of goods that are labelled as Israeli and are therefore given preferential treatment under EU-Israel agreements but which originate in the illegally occupied territories of Palestine. Neither the EU nor the Irish Government seems to have any interest in dealing with this issue.

The transatlantic trade and investment partnership, TTIP, will come down the tracks quickly unless progressive forces can organise to defeat it. It is a customs agreement with the USA. There are serious concerns. I have attended meetings with farmers, small business owners and so on about these issues. There are grave concerns among these groups in particular about the impact of TTIP. The European Commission has a free hand in these negotiations due to the Lisbon treaty. The most damaging element of TTIP is the investment state dispute settlement, ISDS, mechanism, which has been used in other jurisdictions such as Australia, under which multinational corporations can take a state to court if they believe that treaties are not being adhered to in a way that is feasible for them. From what we know of the mechanism, it is designed to allow corporations to sue states for having rules that hamper their profits. A foreseeable example is a corporation suing Ireland if the Government bans fracking. Environmentalists, trade unionists, farmers, many civil society groups and Sinn Féin MEPs have raised major concerns about what TTIP will mean for Ireland and the rest of Europe.

Something we cannot forget is how the Bill will affect citizens and others. My colleagues were contacted by Belfast residents who, on arrival back from a holiday in New York, were shocked to be fined and to have goods impounded. The law is clear, but a more humane approach at times would be welcome. My party has suggested that the people affected should have the right to receive in writing an explanation of the reasons for which they were stopped so as to prevent recurrences.

I welcome the Bill, and Sinn Féin will consider whether to table amendments on Committee Stage where appropriate.