Criminal Justice Bill passed in Dáil

The Criminal Justice Bill was passed last night in the Dáil. The 128-page piece of legislation, which attracted sustained criticism from the Opposition, human rights organisations and lawyers, now goes to the Seanad for consideration.

The Bill includes revised bail provisions, measures on electronic tagging, changes in the right to silence and sentencing. It draws on US legislation to deal with organised crime, drug trafficking and weapons offences. All Opposition parties criticised the Bill's provisions, but Fine Gael and Labour accepted it in principle, while the Green Party and Sinn Féin were opposed to it.

During the final stages of the Bill last night, Sinn Féin's justice spokesman Aengus Ó Snodaigh reiterated his opposition to electronic tagging. Mr Ó Snodaigh expressed his concern that the State was giving increased responsibility for crime and security to the private sector, including measures such as tagging. "It is scary that more and more, the State is delegating its responsibilities for crime control to the private sector" without a clear expression of how the private sector would be monitored and held accountable, he said.

Labour's justice spokesman Brendan Howlin warned that "if tagging becomes the norm, it is an easier decision to make" to deprive people of their liberty before they are convicted and should only be done in certain cases to ensure public safety.

However, Fine Gael's justice spokesman Jim O'Keeffe said "it is better to be released and electronically tagged than to be in prison". It was better for the accused, the criminal justice system and for the taxpayer.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell said the issue had been dealt with "ad nauseum".

Mr O'Keeffe also called for portable screens to be built for suspect identification purposes "and modern ingenuity is such that practical difficulties can be overcome. We are not talking about building special identification rooms in Garda stations."

Mr Howlin supported the proposal and said "when the elderly in particular are confronted by a perpetrator, it is not satisfactory that they should meet eyeball to eyeball, much less have to physically come into contact with each other". Mr McDowell said legislation was not required to provide such facilities.

The Bill contains 50 anti-gangland measures, including giving powers to the Garda to detain gang members for up to seven days without charge for a variety of gun crimes. It provides for drug dealers convicted of a first offence of possession or supply of drugs worth more than €500,000, or who receive their second conviction for sale or supply of drugs worth more than €13,000, to be given a minimum mandatory 10-year jail term.

The Bill also allows for the setting up of a DNA database and new garda cautions on the right to silence.