POLITICAL REACTION:THE GARDA Commissioner Fachtna Murphy joined the Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern at a press conference in the Department of Justice when a number of tough new legislative measures were outlined.
They include designating gang-related and gang membership offences as scheduled offences under the Offences Against the State Act 1939.
That means that, unless otherwise specified by the DPP, trials for such offences will be heard before the non-jury Special Criminal Court.
Mr Ahern also said he plans to introduce penalties for those found guilty of interfering with witnesses.
The current maximum penalty is 10 years. He also said that he also wants to give new powers to judges to impose post-release conditions.
He said that one such condition, for example, would be not to associate with known members of a previous gang.
Mr Ahern accepted that the measures were tough but said they were necessary when dealing with “extremely dangerous individuals”.
He said that scheduling the offences under the Offences Against the State Act sent out a statement that “this type of activity is an affront to society just as the terrorists who were running around this island were an affront to society”.
Mr Ahern said the new legislation was an important tool as surveillance evidence would give gardaí an important tool in corroborating opinion evidence on criminal gangs.
Mr Ahern said he was extremely worried about what had happened in Limerick, particularly in relation to the murder of Roy Collins.
The garda commissioner said that the new criminal justice Bill would result in the Garda Síochána engaging in “invasive and intrusive measures”. However, he pointed out that gardaí have conducted surveillance since the foundation of the State.
“The [new legislation] gives us the statutory basis of introducing surveillance evidence as in court,” he said.
Mr Murphy said that the strength of the Garda in Limerick had been increased by over 100 gardaí in recent years and that the number of very violent incidents had reduced significantly as a result.
Fine Gael’s justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan said the Bill was overdue and necessary, particularly in the light of the increase in gang-related murders this year.
“Covert surveillance legislation is absolutely essential in the fight against organised crime. At present gardaí regularly monitor criminals under schemes such as Operation Anvil but cannot rely on the material they gather in a criminal trial.
“This is an unsustainable position and I welcome Minister Ahern’s belated commitment to addressing the problem,” he said.
Labour’s justice spokesman Pat Rabbitte asked why it had taken so long to publish the Bill.
“I acknowledge that these are exceptional powers that the Dáil is now being asked to provide to the gardaí, but, subject to proper oversight, they are necessary to deal with the exceptional threat being posed by armed criminal gangs, which have claimed 11 victims so far this year,” he said.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties also gave the Bill a cautious welcome.
“Intelligence-led policing, and not the restriction of fair trial rights, is the most effective way to tackle gangland crime,” it said in a statement.