Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I echo Senator O'Sullivan's congratulations to the Minister of State on his reappointment. The continuing spate of gang related murders in Dublin and the fear within communities most directly affected by the activities of violent organised criminals requires a sustained and focused response. Sinn Féin stands 100% with citizens, Garda and the courts against the unprecedented threat of organised crime.

To confront this threat properly and the wider corrosive impact it is having on our society, the Garda and the criminal justice system require the tools to do their job effectively. In this regard, a comprehensive review of the Offences Against the State legislation in advance of its renewal next year is required. It should focus on how to modernise the criminal justice system to make it responsive to the needs of Ireland in 2017. Sinn Féin believes we need new legislation repealing the outdated emergency Acts currently in place and replacing them with strengthened legislation providing for new courts to deal with these cases. The Garda and the criminal justice system need to be equipped to target organised crime bosses, their operations and their assets effectively and relentlessly. Sophisticated, organised, well-resourced and murderous threats to citizens require a focused and rigorous response. Any strategy to counter the threat posed by crime gangs with a huge international reach needs to be intelligent and multi-layered.

One of those layers must be at community level. We need targeted and substantial investment in community development, education and employment, particularly in areas where organised crime gangs are recruiting members and where their malign influence is having a devastating effect on social cohesion. A level of investment in local community policing greater than anything we have witnessed so far is required. This must include an end to the reckless and irresponsible policy of closing Garda stations.

Those in the upper echelons of the crime syndicates are well known to the authorities and are deploying the huge resources at their disposal to avoid prosecution. This requires the State to prioritise adequately resourced intelligence gathering and intelligence-led operations against key criminal organisations. It also requires full co-operation between the Garda and the police services abroad, especially in countries where crime syndicates directing organised crime in Ireland are based. The Garda must have the ability to respond rapidly to violent incidents and threats and to deploy highly trained armed units.

We also need the courts to be resourced in order that they can expedite criminal trials effectively and demonstrate that justice can be delivered fairly and swiftly. We need to examine whether we need special prosecutors specifically dealing with the new threat of organised crime. While always supporting, defending and promoting the judicial norm of the right to a jury trial, only in very special circumstances should we deviate from this to protect the judicial process. Currently, hearings in the family court are held in camerawhile the drug treatment court is a specialised court operating within the legal system. Sinn Féin's position on the use of special courts in dealing with organised crime has been seriously misrepresented by our political opponents and elements of the media. The Garda and the courts are facing 21st century challenges with 20th century legislation. This needs to change. The current outdated criminal justice system does not act as a deterrent to organised crime. It is in fact exploited by organised criminals. The Special Criminal Court was first established under the Offences Against State Act 1939 during the Second World War to counter what the Government at the time claimed was a threat to the State's neutrality from the IRA. Its current incarnation dates from May 1972 following Bloody Sunday in Derry and the escalating political conflict in the North. The Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the Special Criminal Court are ineffective relics of a conflict era which have failed to deal with the new threats posed by organised crime in the here and now. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish and British Governments have a responsibility to work towards the normalisation of policing and security matters. That means ending the state of emergency under which the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 operates. An academic debate about the merits or otherwise of the Special Criminal Court during the political conflict will not make communities in 2017 any safer in the face of organised crime. This needs to be our focus now.

The current threat to the administration of justice, including jury intimidation, emanates from the rise of ruthless organised criminal gangs principally involved in drug related and violent crime. Sinn Féin recognises that there are certain criminal cases which are more difficult to prosecute given the nature of organised crime today. The opportunity for well-organised and well-funded criminal enterprises to influence juries, tamper with evidence or intimidate witnesses is greater than in most criminal cases. Therefore, Sinn Féin does not oppose special courts to deal with the very specific circumstances of violent, organised criminal gangs which present serious threats to the security of the State and communities when the ordinary courts are prevented from securing the effective administration of justice. The Constitution provides for this. The objective is to minimise the capacity for those on trial to interfere with or influence the outcome of such cases by engaging in jury or witness intimidation. Sinn Féin has also called for a proper examination of the option of juror anonymity and other special arrangements to protect those involved in court cases dealing with organised crime.