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Seanad Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 20 Jun 2017

Vol. 252 No. 6

Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion

Motions Nos. 4 and 5 will be debated together. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy David Stanton, and on the day that it is in it I congratulate him.

I move:

That Seanad Éireann resolves that sections 2 to 4, 6 to 12, 14 and 17 of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 (No. 39 of 1998) shall continue in operation for the period beginning on 30 June 2017 and ending on 29 June 2018.

The proposals before the House this evening seek the approval of the Seanad to continue in force provisions of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 aimed at tackling terrorism and the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 in respect of organised crime. Given the nature of these provisions, the House has decided that they should be routinely reconsidered. The Minister for Justice and Equality is required to lay reports before the Oireachtas on the use of the relevant provisions in tho two Acts and reports covering the 12 months up to 31 May 2017 were placed in the Library on 9 June. I am conscious that there has been reflection previously on the traditionally brief nature of the reports placed before the Houses. They have been traditionally brief in order to be focused clearly on what is required by the Act. I am sure the Minister will be open to consider suggestions Members might make as to how the report might be enhanced. I must caution, however, that there would be clear constraints on the detail of what might be included in the context of ensuring there would be no danger of prejudice to the investigation or prosecution of crime or to the security of the State.

The Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 was enacted in the aftermath of the atrocity at Omagh in August 1998. That act of depravity was an affront to humanity and to democracy, and it lingers long in our memory. A robust response to the paramilitary group who carried it out and to its like was essential and these Houses put in place the 1998 Act with that aim in mind. The 1998 Act targeted the Northern Ireland-related terrorist threat. Regrettably, there remains to this day a real and persistent threat from those same paramilitary groups who have set their face against peace on this island. Despite the progress made over years with respect to peace, they continue to seek a return to a bloody past. We must continue to bear down on them and to put them out of business. That remains a priority for the Government. Of course, many provisions of the Offences against the State Acts could have equal application to the international terrorist threat, one that we have seen recently in the shocking attacks in London, Manchester and elsewhere. Sadly, the very nature of that threat means that all open democracies now face it.

In the time available to the House this evening, I will not go through all of the relevant sections in detail. The report laid before the House does so and it also details the instances in which the various sections in question have been used in the reporting period. I note that sections 6, 12 and 17 were not used during the period. It is the case that not every section is used every year. However, that does not undermine the rationale for the powers being available as part of the legal framework for combating terrorist groups. The report also notes the clear view of the Garda Commissioner that the Act continues to be an important tool in ongoing efforts in the fight against terrorism. The Garda authorities have stated that the provisions of the Act are used regularly and that is evident from the report laid before the House. On that basis, I must conclude that these provisions continue to be required and that they should remain in operation for a further 12 months.

Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 is also the subject of a motion before the House. It refers to a small number of serious, organised crime offences that are set out in Part 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. Section 8 of the 2009 Act makes those offences scheduled offences for the purposes of Part V of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 - that is to say, trials for those offences are to be heard in the Special Criminal Court subject to the power of the Director of Public Prosecutions to direct that the offences be tried in the ordinary courts. The purpose of this provision was to guard against the possibility of interference with jury trial by ruthless criminal gangs. As the report laid before the House shows, no trials in respect of the offences have taken place in the Special Criminal Court. That does not, to my mind, invalidate the reasoning for having this provision in place and available for use when appropriate, rather this, in fact, serves to highlight the very considered approach taken by the DPP in exercising discretion to direct that cases be tried in the ordinary courts where that is possible. We greatly value trial by jury but we cannot ignore the threat posed to the criminal process by ruthless criminal gangs. The view of the Garda Commissioner is set out clearly in the report and it is that this provision will be required for some time to come.

The Minister for Justice and Equality must have full regard for the views of the Garda authorities. Nobody here could be in any doubt about the pernicious nature of the activities of serious organised criminals in the State. They have no regard for the damage they cause in communities. They have nothing but disdain for the rule of law and they show no hesitation whatsoever in the use of extreme violence and murder in pursuit of their aims. It is my view, therefore, that section 8 should be continued in operation for a further 12 months. A Chathaoirligh, I commend these motions to the House.

I congratulate the Minister of State on his reappointment as Minister of State. It was well earned. As a neighbour in Cork, I am delighted for him.

Fianna Fáil will support the measures because they are necessary and because we still have the threat of dissident republicanism, organised crime and organised terror all over this island and throughout Europe. It is important to note that we as an Oireachtas have an overriding safeguard on these measures because they have to come before us on an ongoing basis for renewal, and that is an important protection.

There are criminal gangs in this city, which we all know about. Every day we read in the evening newspapers about a murder, drug trafficking, firearms offences, explosives offences and kidnappings, among other crimes. Ordinary citizens in the capital and throughout rural Ireland are living in fear of organised crime.

Jury intimidation is a real threat. There is no question or doubt about it. I know all about it, living not too far from Limerick. It would be very unfair for ordinary citizens who happen to be on the register of electors if they were to be selected for jury service in cases where there could be interference from organised crime and where they would be in fear of their lives. It would be very difficult for them to dispense justice in a calm and reasonable way. We have a safeguard in so far as the DPP can override that if he or she so wishes.

Global terrorism is common and it is coming closer to home all the time. We have seen the atrocities in London, Paris, Berlin, America, all over the Middle East and the rest of the world. Society has to be able to stand up to it. Organised terror always tests a civilised government or institution because it will keep making it essential for the state to protect itself. There is always a fine line between the protection of the state and the rights of the individual. There is no shortage of people in this country or elsewhere who will make a stand for civil liberties. It is good that happens, but the greatest civil liberty of all is life. I am sure the Minister of State would agree.

I ask anyone to point to cases where the Acts before us have been counterproductive or where they should not have been introduced. If people have any doubts about that they should ask the relations of Veronica Guerin or Jerry McCabe. They will tell us in a resounding manner what they would think of that. Unfortunately, there is still a minority in this country who think, as Deputy Jim O'Callaghan said in the Dáil, that they can bomb their way into the political world they desire. There are very few of them left. We have seen that there are other ways to make progress. That is evident in our own country when one looks at the example of people such as John Hume, Seamus Mallon, David Trimble and also Sinn Féin when it came into the peace process.

There will always be the right to protest, the man with the megaphone who is entitled to go out, once he behaves reasonably, to get his message across to the people, but that kind of violence and intimidation has no place in a proper society.

I am old enough to remember the days when a very young Minister, a neighbour of mine in Limerick, Dessie O'Malley, as Minister for Justice had to introduce a special powers Act in the early 1970s because of the atrocities by so-called republicans in the North and in the South. He and his late wife were verbally and physically abused. He was only a garsún, a young man in government, but he did not flinch. My near neighbour, Gerard Collins, was a Minister for Justice and had to live with round-the-clock protection from these individuals but he did not flinch. Paddy Cooney of the Minister of State's party did not flinch. We must never flinch and must be prepared to take on these measures. It is regrettable that the rights of an individual may be straitened or limited in some way but for the greater good of society, my party will be four-square behind the Minister of State.

I echo Senator O'Sullivan's congratulations to the Minister of State on his reappointment. The continuing spate of gang-related murders in Dublin and the fear within communities most directly affected by the activities of violent organised criminals requires a sustained and focused response. Sinn Féin stands 100% with citizens, Garda and the courts against the unprecedented threat of organised crime.

To confront this threat properly and the wider corrosive impact it is having on our society, the Garda and the criminal justice system require the tools to do their job effectively. In this regard, a comprehensive review of the Offences Against the State legislation in advance of its renewal next year is required. It should focus on how to modernise the criminal justice system to make it responsive to the needs of Ireland in 2017. Sinn Féin believes we need new legislation repealing the outdated emergency Acts currently in place and replacing them with strengthened legislation providing for new courts to deal with these cases. The Garda and the criminal justice system need to be equipped to target organised crime bosses, their operations and their assets effectively and relentlessly. Sophisticated, organised, well-resourced and murderous threats to citizens require a focused and rigorous response. Any strategy to counter the threat posed by crime gangs with a huge international reach needs to be intelligent and multi-layered.

One of those layers must be at community level. We need targeted and substantial investment in community development, education and employment, particularly in areas where organised crime gangs are recruiting members and where their malign influence is having a devastating effect on social cohesion. A level of investment in local community policing greater than anything we have witnessed so far is required. This must include an end to the reckless and irresponsible policy of closing Garda stations.

Those in the upper echelons of the crime syndicates are well known to the authorities and are deploying the huge resources at their disposal to avoid prosecution. This requires the State to prioritise adequately resourced intelligence gathering and intelligence-led operations against key criminal organisations. It also requires full co-operation between the Garda and the police services abroad, especially in countries where crime syndicates directing organised crime in Ireland are based. The Garda must have the ability to respond rapidly to violent incidents and threats and to deploy highly trained armed units.

We also need the courts to be resourced in order that they can expedite criminal trials effectively and demonstrate that justice can be delivered fairly and swiftly. We need to examine whether we need special prosecutors specifically dealing with the new threat of organised crime. While always supporting, defending and promoting the judicial norm of the right to a jury trial, only in very special circumstances should we deviate from this to protect the judicial process. Currently, hearings in the family court are held in camera while the drug treatment court is a specialised court operating within the legal system. Sinn Féin's position on the use of special courts in dealing with organised crime has been seriously misrepresented by our political opponents and elements of the media. The Garda and the courts are facing 21st-century challenges with 20th-century legislation. This needs to change. The current outdated criminal justice system does not act as a deterrent to organised crime. It is in fact exploited by organised criminals. The Special Criminal Court was first established under the Offences Against State Act 1939 during the Second World War to counter what the Government at the time claimed was a threat to the State's neutrality from the IRA. Its current incarnation dates from May 1972 following Bloody Sunday in Derry and the escalating political conflict in the North. The Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and the Special Criminal Court are ineffective relics of a conflict era which have failed to deal with the new threats posed by organised crime in the here and now. Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the Irish and British Governments have a responsibility to work towards the normalisation of policing and security matters. That means ending the state of emergency under which the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 operates. An academic debate about the merits or otherwise of the Special Criminal Court during the political conflict will not make communities in 2017 any safer in the face of organised crime. This needs to be our focus now.

The current threat to the administration of justice, including jury intimidation, emanates from the rise of ruthless organised criminal gangs principally involved in drug-related and violent crime. Sinn Féin recognises that there are certain criminal cases which are more difficult to prosecute given the nature of organised crime today. The opportunity for well-organised and well-funded criminal enterprises to influence juries, tamper with evidence or intimidate witnesses is greater than in most criminal cases. Therefore, Sinn Féin does not oppose special courts to deal with the very specific circumstances of violent, organised criminal gangs which present serious threats to the security of the State and communities when the ordinary courts are prevented from securing the effective administration of justice. The Constitution provides for this. The objective is to minimise the capacity for those on trial to interfere with or influence the outcome of such cases by engaging in jury or witness intimidation. Sinn Féin has also called for a proper examination of the option of juror anonymity and other special arrangements to protect those involved in court cases dealing with organised crime.

I join Senators in congratulating the Minister of State on his reappointment. It is obviously a great relief to him to continue the good work he is doing. It is also a great relief to many of us here who have a deep interest in the Department of Justice and Equality because he has been doing phenomenal work in that area. Unfortunately, 12 months is not enough and a significant portion of that involves getting to know the structures, the system and reading into the briefs and so forth. I look forward to substantial progress in the Department as I know it is about to happen. I wish him well. I think I speak for all my colleagues in saying we will co-operate with him in any legislation he feels is necessary to deal with issues such as direct provision and the migrant crisis.

This is this third or fourth year in which I have supported the provisions of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998. I do so against the backdrop of what is happening in London almost weekly. There is a new type of terrorism, and unfortunately this country has had its fair share of activities that were unbecoming. The provisions of this Act are necessary. It is unfortunate, as previous speakers have said, that it is necessary, but I commend the Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, on initiating a COBRA-style emergency response Cabinet committee to examine the threats posed in this country and how we would react to such threats. This country, North and South, has experience of terrorism and we have to be ready for the new type of terrorism. If we need to strengthen the provisions of the 1998 Act, so be it. We are better off being prepared than not. I support this provision and recognise the unfortunate necessity for it. I thank colleagues for supporting it.

I am grateful to the House for its consideration of these two motions this evening and thank Members for their contributions. Naturally, I welcome the support expressed for continuing these provisions in force.

I appreciate the shared commitment that exists in the House to ensure that a robust legal framework is in place for the Garda and courts to deal with the most serious of offences that may threaten the State and the operation of the criminal justice system. As we know, the Garda deploys very considerable operational resources to tackle terrorism and serious organised crime in the State. We, as legislators, must provide it with the necessary means in law to do so.

I am sure we all wish the circumstances were otherwise and laws such as these were not needed. However, the sad reality is that until conditions allow, these provisions are a necessary addition to the general criminal law. I again commend the motion to the House.

Question put and agreed to.
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