asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the type of representations his Department have made to the British Government to ensure that Irish citizens are not unfairly harassed through the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
39.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Prevention of Terrorism Act.
8.
asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the representations which were made to the British Government before the renewal date for the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 8 and 39 together.
The Government recognise that special legislation can be necessary to deal with terrorism, but we have pointed out to the British Government that the operation of the Prevention of Terrorism Act has been discriminatory and insensitive and has caused considerable resentment among law-abiding Irish people.
I have discussed the Act at meetings with British Ministers. On my instructions, my Department provided specific views to the British Government prior to the renewal date of the current Act. Views were also provided to Lord Colville who was appointed by the Home Secretary as an independent reviewer of the legislation.
The particular issues which we raised with the British Government included: the low rate of charging of persons detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act which raises doubt as to whether all of these people were properly detained on suspicion of involvement with terrorism; the lack of information regarding detentions, including lack of notification to the embassy in London; the lack of access to legal advice in the first 48 hours of detention; the length of detention which at present may extend to seven days; the lack of private facilities for examinations at ports and airports; the lack of compensation for loss of earnings; the concentration of the use of landing and embarkation cards on routes to and from Ireland; the importance of respecting the use of names in Irish; the principle of exclusion orders and the necessity for tact and sensitivity in the manner in which certain of the Prevention of Terrorism Act powers are exercised.
Since the Act was first introduced, there have been a number of changes. I would note that the scope of the Act now extends to international terrorism as well as to terrorism arising from the situation in Northern Ireland and that the number of detentions in Britain has greatly decreased. In the first two years of the Act, 1,000 people per year were detained in Britain in connection with terrorism arising from the situation in Northern Ireland. Last year 184 people were detained.
While the operation of the Act continues to give cause for concern, and at times strong concern, it is important to bear in mind that it does not affect in any adverse way the vast majority of Irish people living in Britain or the vast majority of the people travelling to and from Britain.
I wish to assure Deputies that discussions will continue with the British Authorities on the points of particular concern to us and that my Department will continue to provide assistance on request to Irish persons affected by the Prevention of Terrorism Act legislation.
May I ask the Minister if the list of proposals that were made to the British Government are the proposals made to Lord Colville when he was reviewing the Act the year before last? If so, can the Minister tell us, or does he know, how many of those changes have been included in the new legislation announced by the Home Secretary a month ago?
Not as many as we would like and certainly not to any degree the full recommendations of Lord Colville, particularly in relation to exclusion orders of which he was very critical. The area of exclusion orders has not been reformed by the new legislation.
Which is to be debated in October — is that correct?
That is right.