Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Minister of State on having this good legislation passed and welcome the indication he gave that he is willing to discuss related issues. This issue will move from the periphery to the centre of political debate. For this reason, I welcome any opportunity we may have in a future debate to discuss some of the other issues I raised. I sound a note of caution, however, and ask the Minister of State to examine my concern in this regard. As Senator Conway stated, we may seek to amend and strengthen the legislation. I am concerned about the question of jurisdiction because we need to decide if we will relate the action to which the Minister of State referred to the place from which the perpetrator takes that action or the place where the crime has its impact. If the crime is perpetrated on a citizen in Ireland, for example, we have a duty to protect that citizen and ensure the perpetrator is held accountable, irrespective of whether we are in position to try the perpetrator here.

A large number of those who conducted the recent malware attacks in the United Kingdom may not be part of a body corporate or resident in the UK but are, nonetheless, targeting UK institutions and have, therefore, committed a crime. Given how important the issue of jurisdiction will become, we must think carefully about what precedents we establish, and establish boundaries so as to ensure the greatest capacity for vindicating and supporting the rights of citizens and other residents and protecting them and our institutions in future, whether directly or through international co-operation. I urge the Minister of State to examine how we can do this in a robust manner.

As my mother is from Ballindine, County Mayo, where I spent many months of my childhood, I join in the general welcome for Mayo.