Vol. 536 No. 6
123 Mr. O'Shea asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to a newspaper report (details supplied) which suggested that Ireland was being used as a safe haven by international terror groups which were being forced to scale down their operations elsewhere; his response to the report; the steps being taken to combat this problem; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15006/01]
I refer the Deputy to my reply to Parliamentary Question No. 209 of 2 May 2001 where I stated that I was advised by the Garda authorities that they had no evidence that international terrorist groups were using the State as a "safe haven", having been forced to scale down their activities elsewhere, although they were conscious of a considerable increase in the number of persons in this jurisdiction from areas of conflict throughout the world. I was further advised that any adverse activities by any group of persons which came to attention would be closely monitored by the Garda Síochána. Nothing has changed in the intervening period.
