EXTRA TIME should be given for Dáil debate of tough new powers to be given to the Garda Síochána and Director of Public Prosecutions, the Green Party has said. But it will not insist that Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern complies.
Under the Dáil’s current timetable, TDs will finish dealing with the Criminal Justice Bill on Friday, before it is sent to the Seanad the following day and signed into law by the end of the month by President Mary McAleese.
The new legislation gives extra powers to the DPP to send gangland cases to the non-jury Special Criminal Court, creates extra offences to curb gangs, while some hearings could also be heard in secret.
Green Party TD Mary White said her party wanted to “see that the debate is not guillotined”.
“If the Dáil has to come back the following week, then so be it, the Dáil can come back.”
The Greens were briefed on Wednesday by their justice spokesman Ciaran Cuffe, who voiced his opposition to the legislation when he spoke in the House on Wednesday, although he added that the Greens would vote for it.
Questioned last evening, Mr Cuffe said: “I would like to see more time, but I am not going to hold a gun to Dermot Ahern’s head over this.
“It is an important issue, but I don’t want to stop the process of government.”
Speaking following the latest killing by gangland criminals yesterday, Fine Gael TD Charlie Flanagan said Mr Ahern’s proposed new laws “were insufficient on their own to tackle the scourge of violent crime”.
“Garda numbers on the street, a properly-resourced office of the DPP and proper equipment for our gardaí were essential if the wave of gun-crime sweeping our capital is to be reversed.”
So far this year 16 people have been shot dead in Dublin, more than the total for 2008.
“We are already past that grisly landmark, and we are only at the beginning of July,” said Mr Flanagan.
He said the Government’s latest legislation must be linked to extra resources and staffing.
“Regrettably, this is an issue that Fine Gael has had to make repeated calls on the Government to prioritise.”
More gardaí should be on the streets, while more civilians should be hired to ensure that “valuable, highly-trained gardaí are not stuck behind desks doing administration work that someone else could and should be doing”.
He said the long-delayed new communications system for the Garda should be delivered quickly, while cuts in the numbers of Director of Public Prosecutions’ staff dealing with gangland cases should be reversed.
“It makes little sense having gardaí chasing and capturing violent criminals if we then don’t have the capacity to secure convictions that put these thugs away for as many years as possible,” said Mr Flanagan.
Fine Gael would support the Criminal Justice Bill “despite reservations”, he said.
“But tough laws are just the beginning.
“If we are to have a real impact on the crime bosses we need to be taking them on in the streets and in the courts, not just on the statute books.”