Calls to renew provisions on detention

ONLY 18 people were detained for more than 48 hours under the provisions of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act allowing people to be detained for up to seven days, according to the Minister for Justice.

Dermot Ahern was addressing the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence, Equality and Women's Rights yesterday, seeking the renewal of the provisions of the Act allowing this period of detention.

He told the committee that the Garda authorities considered the retention of these provisions to be of the utmost importance in their fight against drug trafficking, both nationally and internationally.

The number of people detained under these provisions over the past two years was 1,711, he said, of whom 821 were held for not more than six hours, 664 were held for between six and 24 hours, and 208 for between 24 and 48 hours. Fifteen people were held for up to five days, and just three for between five and seven days.

The number of those charged was 1,052, of whom 279 have so far been convicted and there are cases pending in 679 cases, he said.

"Essentially, the report shows that the shorter periods of detention continue to be used extensively by the gardaí in the investigating of drug trafficking, while the longer detention periods continue to be used sparingly," he said.

Fine Gael spokesman on justice Charles Flanagan said that he supported the renewal of the provision, but that it should be done on a permanent basis. Mr Ahern said that this was under consideration, and proposals would be brought forward later.

Labour spokesman on justice Pat Rabbitte said that his party was also supporting the renewal of the detention provisions.

He stressed the importance of the work of drug task forces, set up under the National Drug Strategy, and said it was important that they be properly resourced, and that the community input into them was strengthened. They worked to reduce the demand for drugs, he pointed out.

The renewal proposal was agreed by the committee to go forward to the Dáil and Seanad.

The committee also agreed to recommend to the Dáil and Seanad a proposal to lift the parliamentary scrutiny reservation on the adoption of a framework decision on combating terrorism, in order to allow Ireland to support it.

It also accepted the Minister's proposal on the strengthening of Eurojust, an EU body of legal experts working in the Hague on cross-border responses to crime. Ireland is represented on the body by a representative of the DPP.

Mr Ahern said that the basis of the new proposals was to give Eurojust national members specific powers in dealing with requests for judicial co-operation.

This would interfere with the division of responsibilities between the DPP and the Central Authority for Mutual Assistance, situated within the Department of Justice.

It was proposed that Ireland's representative would act as a conduit for such requests.

The Central Authority would be responsible for dealing with them.