Gerry Horkan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive opening statement in regard to the European Arrest Warrant (Amendment) Bill 2022, which, to be fair, is very much a technical Bill. As was referred to recently by Deputy Catherine Murphy in the Dáil, it is not something that most of us are ever going to have to experience or deal with. Nonetheless, some examples of where it has been used include the cases of a person involved in the Paris terrorist attacks who was caught in Belgium, an attacker of the Brussels Jewish museum who was arrested in France, a failed London bomber who was caught in Italy, a German serial killer tracked down in Spain, a suspected drug smuggler from Malta who was surrendered by the UK, and a gang of armed robbers sought by Italy whose members were arrested in six different EU countries. Therefore, it is a very effective and useful tool in dealing with crime. Certainly, given my perspective and that of Fianna Fáil, it is no great surprise that we are supporting this legislation.

The European Commission launched EU infringement proceedings against Ireland in 2020. It is calling on Ireland to comply with the requirements of the European arrest warrant, in particular the mandatory time limits. In the past, we have failed to comply with the mandatory time limits to execute a European arrest warrant. The Bill provides additional grounds for refusal of a European arrest warrant, which affects judicial cross-border co-operation on criminal matters. It is important legislation and it is timely that the Minister of State is bringing it to us. We need to deal with this. We need to give the authorities across Europe every tool they need to deal with transnational crime and with people who are fleeing one jurisdiction within the EU to another.

As the Minister of State noted, the UK is still involved through the British agreement with the EU on its departure from the EU. From our perspective, that is very important because, as the Minister of State said, the source of most European arrest warrants that we get is the UK and vice versa. This makes sense as the UK is our closest neighbour and we are more likely to have interaction with our closest neighbour than with others. It is useful for both jurisdictions that the United Kingdom is still part of the arrangement. For all of us who want to reduce and be able to deal with crime properly, it is a very important Bill. I commend it to the House.