THE Taoiseach said the Government is to introduce an annual review of criminal law.
Mr Bruton added that there would be a "crime miscellaneous provisions" Bill introduced at least once a year. "It is the case that the criminal law is a living thing. There are new precedents, new judgments, new problems arising all the time and what is necessary is that there be a mechanism, at least annually, for correcting any difficulties that arise.
Such a Bill would be presented to the House at the special sitting on July 25th, and the Government (would seek to include as many issues for reform as possible in it. "We need to ensure that we have a mechanism for reviewing the law on an ongoing basis."
Earlier, the Government was sharply criticised for holding its press conference on crime on Tuesday night at the same time as the Dail debated the FF PD motion on crime. The PD leader, Ms Mary Harney, said she was surprised and disappointed that there had not been one member of the Cabinet present for the debate.
In opposition, the Taoiseach had championed the cause of Dail reform. "What happened here last night was a disgrace and it leads me to the conclusion that the Government is more interested in PR."
The Taoiseach said that on Tuesday all members of the Government were involved from early morning until 3.30 p.m. with (meetings of the EU Commission. As a result of that, the Cabinet meeting that would normally have taken place in the morning was deferred until 5 p.m., when consideration was given to the major crime package that was subsequently announced. There was no other time to announce it other than immediately after the Cabinet meeting.
"I believe it was appropriate that it should be announced in detail, in full, at the earliest possible moment. I am surprised that the deputy and others who have been looking for a package of this kind should adopt what I would regard as a somewhat petty attitude."
The Fianna Fail leader, Mr Bertie Ahern, said that if the Dail was relevant the Minister could have announced the crime package in the House.
Asked about the Fianna Fail Private (Member's Bill to freeze the assets of criminals, which now goes to committee, Mr Bruton said he wanted measures which not only were going in the right direction, but also worked in practice and would conform with constitutional requirements. That overriding consideration remained.
There were, as the Minister for Justice had outlined, major flaws in the Bill, which was understandable given that it was produced at short notice. It was the Government's intentions to remedy those deficiencies and it was working towards a programme to have the measure debated in the House on July 25th. That did involve a fairly intensive schedule of work at committee level and arrangements would be made to that end.
Mr Ahern said there was more than adequate time before July 25th to resolve the issue.
Asked by the Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, if he would provide the Attorney General's opinion on the FF Bill, the Taoiseach said it was never the case that it was made available to anybody but the Government. However, the Government could ensure that its legal views were communicated to the committee dealing with the Bill.
