The decision of the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to agree to demands for more time to debate the Criminal Justice Bill in the Dáil after the Easter recess has been welcomed by the Opposition.
Mr McDowell agreed in the course of Dáil exchanges yesterday to hold the debate on the report and final stages of the legislation on the first day after the Easter break, rather than proceeding with those stages yesterday as planned.
Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny said that only 104 out of 171 amendments put down to the Bill had been discussed during the debate on the committee stage of a Bill designed to give gardaí extra powers to deal with criminal gangs. Mr Kenny said that one important provision relating to seven-day detention for questioning had not been debated, and would not be reached in the time available.
Mr McDowell said he would agree to have the report stage on the first day back after Easter, provided the main Opposition parties accepted it would be dealt with in one day and could then go to the Seanad.
Labour Party justice spokesman Brendan Howlin later welcomed the Minister's decision, but said it had come about as a direct result of pressure exerted by his party and others on the Opposition benches.
"If the House had acceded to the proposal originally put forward by Minister McDowell, the entire Bill would have been passed by the Dáil last Thursday evening with two-thirds of its sections never even having been discussed.
"The extended debate extracted from a reluctant Minister has allowed most of the Bill to be subject to careful scrutiny. The Minister has moderated many of his more extreme original proposals and the Bill that will emerge at the end of this process will be a significant improvement on the one he first brought before the Dáil," said Mr Howlin. He added that one important element of the Bill that had not yet been fully debated was Mr McDowell's proposal for seven day detention for a range of offences.
"I believe that this proposal is excessive and when the report stage resumes after Easter I will be tabling and amendment to ensure that a better balance is struck between the need to allow the gardaí to tackle organised crime and accepted international norms of human rights," Mr Howlin said.
