Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. In 2002, the Hederman review into the Offences Against the State Acts was published. It made several key recommendations, including to repeal the existing Offences Against the State Acts and replace them with one single consolidated item of legislation, which should contain significant reforms of the Acts. The most recent review of the Acts, published last week, reflected the recommendations of the Hederman review. Twenty years have passed between the Hederman review and the most recent review. What has changed in this period with respect to the Acts? In a word, nothing. Sinn Féin sought the most recent review, as the Minister of State is aware. We made a submission to the review group. Despite any protestations to the contrary, it is the review and its recommendations that are now most relevant and urgent, not the renewal of outdated legislation for which the Government is seeking support.

The review group stated that, "Many of the recommendations which follow throughout this report are simply a reiteration of what the Hederman Committee recommended in 2002." As Sinn Féin and others have stated repeatedly, the idea of having to renew legislation each year creates massive legal uncertainty. The Government is speaking out of both sides of its mouth simultaneously. On the one hand, it has accepted the overwhelming weight of legal and academic analysis in establishing the review and publishing it, yet it acts as though it has no credible alternative to its groundhog day piece of annual political theatre. This approach does not make sense, unless you are Fine Gael, trying to build a faltering reputation as being the party of law and order. Its record, since it took responsibility for the justice portfolio 12 years ago, belies this reputation. Look at what Fine Gael Ministers have delivered. Serious crime levels are out of control and a serious threat is posed to society by organised crime. There is a retention and recruitment crisis in An Garda Síochána. Courts across the State have a huge backlog and there are lengthy waits for trials. Inquests in coroners courts, similarly, take a long time. Families cannot move on while waiting and wondering what happened to loved ones who have passed. Legislation to combat white-collar crime, the handmaiden of serious and organised crime, has been implemented after the EU deadlines. Prisons are deprived of necessary resources, increasing risks to staff and, indeed, public safety.

What must be done? The report of the review group points the way forward. All courts need to integrate into a single, reformed, modern criminal justice system. Resources must be provided to the Garda and special provisions for juries, where there is a high likelihood of intimidation or tampering, need to be implemented. Evaluations of this risk should be based on statistics and intelligence evaluations and supervised by judges. The majority opinion of the review group report backs this very clearly. It also recommends that the current system should not continue. The sole power for deciding on the use of a non-jury court will remain with the DPP, but it is recommended that an oversight mechanism be introduced. There are great merits in the views of the majority and the minority, and we will consider them fully when the enabling legislation is brought forward.

Sinn Féin was the only party to make a submission to the review group, so am I entitled to ask how seriously others take the matter when they failed to make a similar submission. We included four key recommendations in our submission, the majority of which were incorporated into the core recommendations of the report of the majority of the review group. Other measures outside the courts system are required as well. Within the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, more experts are needed to deal with financial crime. The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland made several recommendations related to cybercrime and cybersecurity. These recommendations must be implemented.

I urge the Minister of State to resist the temptation to hold this political set piece again next year. The report can be completed, and a Bill moved, within that timeframe. Sinn Féin is willing to facilitate this in a timely manner. We do not want another charade of a renewal vote and, therefore, we urge all Seanadóirí and the Minister of State to accept our amendments and put an end definitively to the theatrics of this annual vote.