Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the members of the Fine Gael group here today for proposing this Bill and the members of Young Fine Gael for coming up with the legislative plan.

Two points occur to me. When I looked at it, I asked myself, looking back at the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, if it was sufficient. The answer is it is not, and for a number of reasons. It is not sufficient because assault occasioning harm may or may not cover the spiking of a drink or something like that. That is the first point.

The second point is that the definition of poisoning, which is an offence, in the 1997 Act states, "A person shall be guilty of an offence if, knowing that the other does not consent to what is being done, he or she intentionally or recklessly administers to or causes to be taken by another a substance which he or she knows to be capable of interfering substantially with the other’s bodily functions ... For the purpose of this section a substance capable of inducing unconsciousness or sleep is capable of interfering substantially with bodily functions, and the penalty for that is three years. The problem is that the three-year tariff imposed by the 1997 Act does not allow for an arrest. That is the serious issue. An attempt to commit that offence does not allow for an arrest either. For instance, if you are spotted lacing somebody's drink, a garda does not have the right to arrest that person for attempted poisoning because the offence itself does not have a five-year minimum tariff. This requires action. The 1997 legislation is too light and it is inadequately drafted.

When I looked at the drafting of this Bill, whether it was done by Senator Ward or whoever, in my view, it is very well drafted. The provisions in it, in my view, require to be enacted into law as a matter of urgency.

Deputy Harris's Department - I am aware I am using the phrase "Deputy Harris's Department" in a temporary sense - has before this House a Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. By simply proposing a Standing Orders motion, this provision could easily be introduced to it as an additional section. It could be done properly, I would say with the consent of all Members of this House, within a half an hour some afternoon. It does not require the Minister to go to the Attorney General's office and have the matter redrafted because it is well drafted. Nor does it require anything other than asking the Cabinet to agree that this new offence should be enacted into law.

It may be something for Deputy McEntee when she resumes her function as Minister to deal with, but there is no excuse whatsoever for leaving the law in an inadequate state. If it only carries a three-year penalty, the result is it is not an arrestable offence. An attempt to spike drink is not an arrestable offence because it is an attempt to poison within the meaning of the 1997 legislation.

I will not go on any longer. I have had a few minutes here. I strongly support this Bill. If there is any goodwill at all apart from the usual bureaucratic inertia, this could be law by the autumn. I agree with what Senator Ward said about the necessity to make it clear to anybody, even if they think it is only a prank or they think it is cool to attempt to sedate somebody else for whatever reason, that they are going to jail for ten years if they are caught. That will have a deterrent effect.