asked the Minister for Justice whether his attention has been drawn to the recent reply of Captain O'Neill to the Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and the Labour Party memorandum advocating necessary reform; and to the fact that Captain O'Neill defends the retention of the Special Provisions Act which includes imprisonment without trial by stating that powers of an exceptional nature are employed and justified in both parts of Ireland; and if he will now take steps to remove from the statute books the Offences Against the State Act, so that the Unionist Party will be unable to quote 26 County legislation to defend their own lack of civil rights.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Offences Against the State Act.
13.
The analogy drawn between the powers exercisable in Northern Ireland and in this part of the country is not valid.
Part V of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939, which deals with the establishment of Special Criminal Courts and Part II of the 1940 Act which provides for detention in very special circumstances ceased to have force in 1962 and it would require formal Proclamations by Government to bring these parts of the Acts into force again. Furthermore, the police powers in these Acts of the Oireachtas are not nearly as wide in scope as the powers in the Civil Authorities (Special Powers) Act, 1922, which operates in Northern Ireland.
The Government do not propose to promote legislation for the repeal of these Acts.
Does the Minister not agree that it is no longer necessary to have this Act on the Statute Book?
I have pointed out that a large part of this Act is not in force and cannot be enforced unless the Government so decide by proclamation.
Surely as evidence of our good faith and our belief in the civil rights movement all over Ireland, we should not give help to the enemies of freedom in a part of this country by enabling them to quote Acts of the Oireachtas as bolstering up their legislation? Would the Minister not agree, in the circumstances, to remove this legislation from the Statute Book?
The Deputy's remarks may not be very helpful to those for whom he professes to speak. This has nothing to do with civil rights in Northern Ireland.
Since the Northern Ireland Prime Minister defended their own Act in Northern Ireland by reference to the fact that there is an Offences Against the State Act in this part of Ireland, does it not follow that, in order to show good faith on the part of the Government and their support for the civil rights movement, they should scrap this Act as no longer necessary?
What the Northern Prime Minister said was that powers of an exceptional character have been employed in both parts of this country that did not apply in Britain. He was speaking in the context of Britain at the time.
Surely——
I cannot allow any further supplementaries. Deputy O'Leary has already asked four supplementaries.
The Northern Prime Minister, replying to a Labour Memorandum on that part of the country calling for reforms, defended his position by reference to the Offences Against the State Act. Are the Government not showing their lack of faith in the future of the civil rights movement by refusing to scrap this Act, and are they not thereby helping the reactionary elements in Northern Ireland?
That is not so. I pointed out there is no analogy whatever between the Special Powers Act in Northern Ireland and the legislation to which I have referred and which is not, in fact, in force here. The Deputy well knows that, but for his own particular purposes he pursues this matter. He speaks of being careful about giving help to reactionary elements in the North, but he is not very much concerned about providing them with this ammunition.
While the Minister says that the Special Powers Act has wider scope than the Offences Against the State Act here, does he not agree that the provisions of his proposed Criminal Justice Bill will widen the scope even further than the Special Powers Act in the North?
That is a separate question.
I do not agree on any such thing. As regards the question of the Criminal Justice Bill prohibiting public meetings, there is a right of appeal to the courts proposed in the Bill. There is no such right in Northern Ireland.
The Minister and his Government are helping the Paisleyite movement by refusing to remove this Act from the Statute Book.
(Interruptions.)