Martin Kenny
Sligo-Leitrim · Sinn Féin · Ireland
“A debate here for a couple of hours is fine, but I remember being involved in some of the deep talks with people in the early days of the peace process. We sat in rooms and talked about reconciliation. I met Garret FitzGerald on many occasions at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation.”
“Of course, we have the areas of natural constraint payments that most farmers on this side of the Border avail of. Unfortunately, those payments are no longer available in the North. Sinn Féin has recommended that the payments should be restored. Farmers need support. Brexit took their support away.”
“I welcome this debate. Such a debate has been needed for quite a long time. The reality is that for many people, the issue of the financial implications of Irish unity has been used as a put-down to try to smother or put a stop to argument and debate. This is a welcome way in which we can open that up.”
“I hope Government will reflect on that and recognise that we need to build a process. There is an energy for reunification among ordinary people the length and breadth of the country. This is about the physical constraints, but is also about identity. Many people who live on this island have a British identity.”
“As the Taoiseach is aware, for many years people with mental health issues have been attending emergency departments in our hospitals. Many of them get very poor outcomes. They experience long delays and end up on trolleys. Sometimes they are referred for short-term stays or to community services, which offer little or no service.”
“I appreciate all that and the farmers forum is a positive advancement on things, but we are back to the problem at the very core of this issue, which is that the chair of Bord Bia has been using imported beef from Brazil as part of his mix to sell product.”
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“I hope Government will reflect on that and recognise that we need to build a process. There is an energy for reunification among ordinary people the length and breadth of the country. This is about the physical constraints, but is also about identity. Many people who live on this island have a British identity. If we are to have a free country, they have to be free to express that identity. We can all stand up for that.”
“A debate here for a couple of hours is fine, but I remember being involved in some of the deep talks with people in the early days of the peace process. We sat in rooms and talked about reconciliation. I met Garret FitzGerald on many occasions at the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation. All sorts of people from across society, North and South, came together, not just for a couple of hours now and again but for days on end, to discuss the issues and go through the problems and difficulties that peace would entail. It was about a process. That is what we need to develop now, namely a process relating to reunification, as opposed to just having a debate on the odd occasion. This is why the Bill we put forward last week is so important. It is so disappointing that it did not attract support.”
“Of course, we have the areas of natural constraint payments that most farmers on this side of the Border avail of. Unfortunately, those payments are no longer available in the North. Sinn Féin has recommended that the payments should be restored. Farmers need support. Brexit took their support away. Brexit took people north of the Border out of the European Union against their will. That placed a sharp focus on the prospect of reunification and what it could deliver for people. Much has been said about the shared island unit, which has done some magnificent work. However, the Taoiseach explicitly stated from the start that this unit was not a vehicle for constitutional change. We need such a vehicle. We need a means by which we can have discussions like this.”
“I welcome this debate. Such a debate has been needed for quite a long time. The reality is that for many people, the issue of the financial implications of Irish unity has been used as a put-down to try to smother or put a stop to argument and debate. This is a welcome way in which we can open that up. This debate is really about the opportunities that Irish unification would offer as opposed to the difficulties that might arise. There are opportunities, particularly in the agriculture sector, which I deal with most. I speak to farmers in the North all the time. They see the implications of unity. I meet them at the marts in the South when they are moving animals across the Border. All of those things have difficulties and constraints they should not have.”
“As the Taoiseach is aware, for many years people with mental health issues have been attending emergency departments in our hospitals. Many of them get very poor outcomes. They experience long delays and end up on trolleys. Sometimes they are referred for short-term stays or to community services, which offer little or no service. Recently, the Government has decided to put special mental health nursing teams in place in a number of hospitals. That is very welcome. However, a lot of the hospitals have been left out, including Sligo hospital in the north west, where large numbers of people with mental health issues attend the emergency department on a regular basis. These individuals can be in a very distressed state and do not get an adequate service. When will this be rectified?”
“Now he will not be able to use Brazilian beef because it is going to be banned. What is going to do now, not market any of the product? Nobody believed that story, and that is the problem. It is about the authenticity of the person at the head of Bord Bia. It is not about the work that Bord Bia does, and the more the Minister keeps referring to the work Bord Bia does, how it is managing, how it is working and the good work it is doing for Irish farmers and Irish agriculture, the more he is avoiding the central point.”
“I am not in dispute with the Minister in that respect. Nobody is. Nobody is saying that is not the situation. The problem is that credibility and authenticity are also central to people’s confidence and the chair of Bord Bia has lost that confidence because of the situation whereby his companies are not part of Origin Green, a programme that the board he chairs was saying all companies that produce food in Ireland should be part of. It is part of the system we are trying to put in place, yet his company was not part of it. Furthermore, his company was using beef imported from Brazil, which the European Commission is now saying will not even be allowed into Europe from 1 September. The argument that the chair had was that he could not market his product if he did not use Brazilian beef.”
“The problem is that the chair of the organisation that is marketing Irish food globally is also using a product that flies in the face of the quality standards we have in Ireland and, indeed, he was not even a member of Origin Green.”
“I appreciate all that and the farmers forum is a positive advancement on things, but we are back to the problem at the very core of this issue, which is that the chair of Bord Bia has been using imported beef from Brazil as part of his mix to sell product. This is at the same time that Irish farmers, Irish consumers and European consumers have serious difficulties with that product. The European Commission has gone so far as to ban the importation of Brazilian beef, notwithstanding the Mercosur trade agreement, and it did that because the product simply cannot meet the standards. That huge problem remains. The report does not deal with that, and that is the difficulty that farmers have here. The report has the 22 recommendations in regard to governance, but this is not actually about the governance. That was very clear from the beginning.”
“What engagement has the Minister had with Bord Bia in relation to the report on the review of governance procedures in that organisation? Farmers and farmer organisations are still saying very clearly that this report is not adequate, that farmers do not have confidence in the chair of Bord Bia and that as long as he remains there, they will find it very difficult to have confidence in Bord Bia as an organisation that implements the quality assurance scheme. How can we finally resolve this ongoing situation?”
“I appreciate that and food security is certainly central to this. Every time somebody from the European Commission speaks, they talk about security but as we know with the various conflicts, and we have seen what is happening again in Iran, primary to security in Europe will be food security. We need to focus on ensuring we keep our agricultural sector vibrant and producing. If we do not do so, we will have a food security problem. To go back to the other issues with the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure, and the possibility of more coupling and what sectors this may impact, where does the Minister feel this will move? In what direction are we moving?”
“The Minister is smiling as if I am asking whether he has a crystal ball but what we need to know is how determined we are to ensure this can happen and what are the indications coming from other member states in respect of it. Is the Minister up against it or is there openness to trying to progress an increased budget for CAP?”
“I appreciate that but negotiations can only get you so far when you do not have the budget. We need to secure the budget and that is why I want to focus on that more than anything. Over six months of the Presidency, we need to secure that and get agreement on an increased budget. A decrease of approximately 20% will be devastating for Irish agriculture and for many sectors. I am thinking of the suckler sector in my area, which really depends on these funds. If these funds are cut, it will have a detrimental effect on this industry and on many other sectors across agriculture. What we need to get down to here is whether the Minister is saying to me that we will have an increase in the budget and that Ireland will be able to secure it in the term of the Presidency.”
“I want to find out what is happening in regard to CAP. We want to see if there is any progress in relation to the proposed budget and retaining the Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 structure which has served Ireland well up to now. During Ireland's Presidency, how much progress can we realistically make towards securing a full and proper budget which will sustain Irish farmers and European agriculture?”
“They have that sense of place but it is being eroded as the services in rural areas are eroded. I am sure the same applies in the Minister of State's community. All of us have to work together to try to provide solutions to this. Unfortunately, the Government does not want to look at solutions. Basically, the Minister of State is delivering something that is too little, too late and does not go far enough. That has always been the problem. While the Bill is welcome, for many communities, it is failure that will continue to dominate in the future. People do not see any future in much of rural Ireland. Unless there is a place for them to live and there are services for them, they will not come back.”
“This is part of the neglect of rural areas, which have been left behind for far too long. What the Minister is doing here today is welcome but short-lived. What will happen after 2030? Where will we see progress after that? A lot of people are telling me this is too little, too late. Many communities feel left behind, and it is not only because of post offices. In many aspects of rural life people find that investment has not been made to sustain their communities and ensure there is a future for them. Most people who live in rural Ireland want to live there. People who may have had to travel to get education or work want to come back to raise their children and have them go to the school they went to and play for the football club they played for when they were growing up.”
“It seems that this model is being applied everywhere. It is particularly acute in cases where small post offices in rural areas cannot survive on their own. The payment per transaction model simply does not provide enough to make post offices sustainable and viable businesses. That needs to be recognised. The only way to reverse that is to put a base salary in place that postmistresses and postmasters can survive on, and then give them a payment per transaction. That is exactly what needs to happen. For many communities, the current position simply does not work. I know of areas where people, mainly pensioners collecting a pension, are travelling ten, 15 or 20 miles to find a post office whereas the post office used to be just down the road from them a few years previously.”
“Sinn Féin welcomes what is being done. We need to see this funding provided to post offices as quickly as possible. For many communities, this is too little, too late because in my part of the world and in much of rural Ireland, large numbers of post offices have closed down. It seems the only model An Post will work with is one where the post office moves into a supermarket in a large town. That is happening all over the country. It means there has to be a business that will provide footfall so people can make money in the post office. In Carrick-on-Shannon, the largest town in County Leitrim, the post office was to close down because the postmistress could not make enough money to ensure a sustainable future. She had to stop working and nobody else would take over the post office, which then had to move into a local supermarket.”
“At the same time, we also have a responsibility to ensure that we do not create situations that make animal cruelty worse. Bringing in a blanket ban of that nature could give rise to such a danger. That is why I would encourage the Minister of State to consider speaking to the senior Minister in respect of it, and that we would look at having a commission in place to examine this and to report back and to see if recommendations are required.”
“It is probably time that we looked at having some kind of proper independent examination of how this is working, or not working, as the case may be. If changes or some level of improved regulations need to be put in place they should be considered. A ban is not the way forward to deal with this situation. In many of these situations, these things fade away in many areas. In some rural areas they were a big pursuit 30 years or 40 years ago and they are not any more. They still are in some areas of the country and in those areas we need to examine it and ensure that we have adequate regulations in place and that they are adhered to and properly enforced. We all have a responsibility to ensure that animal cruelty does not happen.”
“From that perspective we will not be supporting the Bill but we will encourage the Minister to consider putting a commission in place to examine it and have the relevant expertise in place to ensure that we can perhaps make changes to the regulations if necessary. I do not know whether they are necessary or not. I take on board that the issues that have been brought forward by Deputy Murphy and others need to be listened to. If there are people out there who have strong voices and opinions in this regard, we need to listen to them. I am sure also that on the other side of it we will have people who are engaged in these particular activities who will have equally strong views as to how well the regulations are working.”
“It is time for the Minister and the Department to look at having a commission to look at this issue and examine how effective these regulations are, how well they are working, and whether there are issues which need to be dealt with, if improvements can be made, and if so, whether recommendations can be made. In the context of the debate we are having here, while I absolutely understand where this particular Bill is coming from, it is not appropriate at this point to do that without having a proper examination of the situation. The big danger is that if we ban something, we will drive it underground and make the situation far worse, both for the animals concerned, namely, the hares, but also for the greyhound industry as well. That would be a detrimental thing to happen.”
“We also recognise - this is a big part of it for me - that when we ban something like this or have a situation where we try and stamp it out completely, it goes underground and would continue in a way that was not regulated with no vets involved and no assurance that there would be any sense of making provisions so that cruelty could not happen. Hares, when caught, might not be treated and released properly. These things would not come under regulation. That is one of the fears I have. In other jurisdictions where there are bans in place, there are huge problems with underground and illegal hunting and coursing. That is a big issue we also need to bear in mind. That said, the Minister of State mentioned it was 2013 when there was previously a substantive debate on this issue.”
“There are many people in urban Ireland who keep greyhounds and have a huge interest in this area as well, but this is specifically about the coursing of the hare. I hear stories of hare coursing in my community going back many years where people have had an interest in this particular pursuit or whatever people want to call it. I do not particularly have an interest in it but there are many who do and are very aware that one has to be very careful to ensure the animal is not hurt on either side, whether it be the greyhounds or other dogs involved, or the hare.”
“I thank Deputy Murphy for bringing this Bill forward. It is important that we have a debate on these issues. It is an issue that needs further scrutiny and we need to look into it, but from a Sinn Féin perspective, we will not be supporting the proposal. While we recognise that there are of course always issues when it comes to sports of this nature where there can be abuse and animals can be the victims of cruelty and we need to ensure that does not happen, hare coursing is highly regulated. We recognise that as well. Those regulations are well-adhered to and people look after the animals very well. On keeping greyhounds, people mentioned it is not an urban-rural issue, and it certainly is not.”
“We have an obligation to ensure that over this Presidency we work towards developing a critical mass of European nations to recognise that the reunification of Ireland is also something that would hugely benefit the European Union. We have a region which was part of the European Union before, which could immediately go back into the European Union if it became part of a unified Éire. That is something we need to work together to try to develop. We must work with people across this island, but also across all of Europe so that we can see what kind of funds and resources we can put in place to integrate two parts of this island which have been divided by an artificial border for far too long, so that they can come together and be part of a new united Ireland within the European Union.”
“What we do with our land, how we farm and how we how we develop our agricultural systems will have an impact on that, but farmers cannot change and adapt unless adequate provision is put in place. In other words, they need to be paid for the public good they provide. That needs to be central to the CAP negotiations. I want to turn to one other aspect of it. Strength with unity is the motto of the Presidency. The previous speakers spoke about a previous Irish Presidency when German reunification was an issue. Irish reunification is something we all need to look to at the moment because a couple of miles from me in County Fermanagh people who voted to stay in it are now outside of the European Union because of Brexit. The region wanted to stay part of the European Union.”
“The Minister of State nodding in agreement, and we all need to work together to make that happen. We need to recognise that farmers in every part of the European Union contribute hugely not just to the wealth of the Union in regard to the food that they produce but also to the public good that they do and from an environmental perspective as well. That also needs to be borne in mind. We have a climate crisis across the world. We have certainly found some element of it in Ireland in the last couple of weeks. We have had record temperatures and I understand there are more record temperatures to come. We have had record storms and all of these things are having consequences.”
“We are here because of the Presidency of the European Union. It is a great honour for Ireland to have the Presidency and to be in that position for the next six months. It also brings a lot of responsibility. From my perspective and the agriculture portfolio I hold, it is a critical time because we have the negotiations on the CAP budget. We see there are proposals to cut that budget considerably. That is something Ireland will have a key role in over the coming months. I hope we are able to bring about a situation where we recognise agriculture and European farmers are central to European security because food security is as important as any other aspect of security across the European Union. That is why the CAP budget needs to be restored and expanded and grown, if at all possible. That is exactly what we need to be doing.”
“We have a situation where many people around the country have been waiting since the Government came into power for this €200 per month for childcare. There is absolutely no sign of it whatsoever. I speak to people in my constituency who are still paying through the nose for a service they can ill afford at the same time as every other cost has gone through the roof, and we still have the situation where the people who work as early years educators cannot get an adequate salary to ensure that they can continue to work in the profession. The Minister needs to recognise that what we are bringing forward tonight is a solution to a problem not just for the people who work in the sector but for thousands of people around the country who are being pushed out of a situation where they cannot go to work because they cannot afford childcare.”
“We recognised something needed to be done and Deputy Kerrane continued to develop that policy until we clearly set out a goal that we wanted to see a wraparound childcare service that would be available for everybody, be affordable and that the State would stand over. Then, before the most recent election, the Government party came along and said, "This is a good idea", so what did it do? Instead of actually adopting the policy we had, it adopted the announcement and said it was going to provide this. However, there was no plan to do it whatsoever and now we are in the situation where we continue to hear the Government talk about it but actually not deliver it. That is really the problem we have here.”
“I commend Deputy Kerrane on bringing forward this motion. I remember five or six years ago Kathleen Funchion, the former TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, began a process of speaking to childcare providers and families around the country about this issue. It was an issue for everyone in every constituency in the country. We were meeting families who could not get childcare and when they could it was extremely expensive. Those working as early-years educators were in the very same position. They could not afford to continue to work in the sector after going to college and qualifying. They loved working with children yet they could not afford to continue to do that.”
“That is about making sure we can have the regulations but that those regulations are applied rigidly, particularly in situations where we have large groups in different parts of the world that can hide behind each other. We talk about the cloud. Where is the cloud? Where does it exist? How does one get access to it? There are big issues here that need to be dealt with. Artificial intelligence can actually be used to deal with those difficulties and that is where it needs to be done positively. The concept of this is welcome, but we have a distance to go. I am particularly concerned with regard to the funding and staffing of the offices. I am concerned that we may not have enough time to get into this race because we are in a race against very negative actors who are continually trying to undermine the very aspect of civilisation.”
“It has become so damaging and so evil, one could say, when we see some of the stuff that is going on there. We want to ensure that artificial intelligence is prevented from - it is already starting to do it - magnifying and exaggerating and pushing of those negative things even further. That is a big aspect of what to put in place here. Of course, there also has to be accountability, fairness and integrity around it. Having an office in place and having laws and regulations in place do not provide any of those things unless we ensure that we have the intent and we are absolutely sure we have the ability. That is about staffing. That is about funding.”
“However, there are so many of the tasks we cannot find people to do that artificial intelligence will never be able to do. I refer to healthcare and a whole range of areas where we absolutely will never be able to do any of those things without having human beings to do them who can show care and compassion and all those things. Artificial intelligence does not have that. That is what we need to acknowledge and understand. While the whole issue and one of the big focuses in respect of this is safety and security, it is also about ensuring that the negative aspects of it are not allowed to overtake to become the dominant feature of it. So much of what we see and understand of the world of cyber and the Internet has become so negative.”
“We often talk about the enforcement of regulation and enforcement to ensure that the negative is not enabled in respect of this but is disabled. It also has to have an element where the enforcement of that regulation has to be able to ensure that the positive is enabled and that there is a means by which people can easily access and bring forward ideas and prospects and that the means of using artificial intelligence are for the good and advancement of people. We must ensure we have better systems in place that can deliver for populations. The big issue people often come up against is that it can have a very negative effect in that it will take away jobs and all of those things. That is always, of course, an aspect to it.”
“The whole world has changed so much in the past decade. Certainly, the advent of AI has been a huge advance, in one sense, in respect of all of that. I recently spoke to somebody who has developed a business in the United States in regard to the whole issue of cybersecurity and AI is central to what they do in respect of all of that. We also, of course, know that it has the ability to do repetitive tasks without ever getting fatigued or tired or lazy. It can do all those things. It can assess vast amounts of data and zone into what is effective. It has huge potential and that has to be acknowledged as well. It is not a force for good only; it can also be a force for great harm. It depends on how it is used and who uses it. That is where human intent comes into play in respect of that. That is why it is important that we have regulation.”
“The builders, who in so many cases are innocent, bought the products in good faith and put them into the houses. Who was left to foot the bill? Only the householders. We need to see a proper scheme put in place to give people at least some sense that the Government has their backs in these circumstances.”
“If the result again states there is nothing, then these people will be back in a situation where they do not comply with the standards. We have got serious issues here with many people who have serious problems. The other issue is that it is not just blocks in many cases. It is other concrete materials, including the foundations. I welcome that this aspect is now going to be examined and will be part of the scheme. For years, however, we have been saying this, and the Government has refused to listen. The reason the Government has refused to listen is because it wants to continue to back away from the problem it created. The Government created this problem through light-touch regulation and the cosy relationship there was with the people who provided these products.”
“They are afraid to tell their neighbours they have this problem because everybody is frightened of what impact it is going to have on the value of their home and that of the other houses built around them. The worry all this causes is devastating. That worry is compounded by the Government having refused to put in place a scheme that will actually give 100% redress. I welcome the changes in the new regulations, where we now see that there is at least a recognition it may not be mica or pyrite in some of these houses. It may be other minerals causing these issues. I know of a number of cases where tests were done. I am thinking of two houses in particular. The first test said those houses had mica, while the second said they had none. They are going off now for a third test to see what the situation is.”
“I commend Deputy Ward on bringing forward this motion here today. The reality is that we are here because of the light touch regulation of Government and the practices of quarries and those who developed the concrete products used through the boom across many parts of the country. In my own constituency in Sligo, we have hundreds of houses that have been affected, and it has also spread to other areas. It is not just the counties on this list. It is important to recognise there are houses outside of it and people in other communities that are also affected. I spoke to some people in a housing estate. They can see the issues, they are talking about them and they have spoken to the county council.”
“We are told when all these things are done, it will be good for the consumer because competition will bring prices down. When you go back and look at all these situations, two things happen - prices go up and infrastructure crumbles. That is the case in all of these situations. It is no different here. The reality is we do not have the capacity in this Government to provide the kind of infrastructure we need. I recall when the Green Party was in government it said we had the equivalent of a Gulf oil stream off the coast with wind if we could only get it in and there was the notion that we would be the richest country in the world with all the wind power we were going to generate to export everywhere. We have not done anything with regard to putting that infrastructure in place. Government is totally failing in respect of all of this.”
“The electricity grid is out of date. It simply does not work. It is not capable of meeting the growing demand across all sectors in particular data centres which are causing huge problems. Ordinary people and small businesses are under strain to try to pay very high bills. We are told we have the highest in Europe. If you looked at it globally, we are probably among the highest. We need to look at our situation. It goes to the core of the difference between Government and Opposition. Government has continually over the years set out everything essential to private providers. From the point of view of those in opposition, it should be provided by the State. That is the difference. When we had the lowest electricity prices in Europe, the ESB was run by the State. That is the difference.”
“My colleagues, Deputies Carthy and Ward, have tabled a number of amendments that they hope will provide assurances and protection to Irish citizens and to small and medium providers, who also need to be protected. This Bill is coming at the eleventh hour. It is very rushed. It is a big piece of legislation and is establishing something that will have a major impact. It is impossible to support legislation coming in this manner. The Minister's Department would do well to sit down, look at how it prepares and work out systems for the future because this is not the way to proceed on matters of such importance.”
“In all these situations, the right to privacy and fundamental human rights have to be protected. We are aware of the debates around social media in many jurisdictions. In most cases, it may come down to social media companies' preparedness to co-operate with the criminal justice system, which has been unfortunately absent in most cases to date. I hope the level of penalties put in place will be enough to do that. There is provision for 2% of annual turnover; in other circumstances, it can be up to 10% of annual turnover. Is this something we are falling short on? We need to have sharp teeth when it comes to dealing with these companies. To date, that has not been the case and they have been allowed to get away with far too much in many jurisdictions. I am not just picking on Ireland or the European Union; it has been a global phenomenon.”
“It is about whether Ireland will inadvertently contribute to human rights abuses. That is something we all have to be conscious of. We see a level of, quite frankly, fascism arising in many states around the world. The impact that may have has to be considered. Would Ireland facilitate the prosecution of individuals who have committed acts that would not constitute a criminal offence here? I notice in the Minister's opening remarks he suggested that would not happen. That is welcome if it is the case. There is the requirement for a publicly accessible register providing information on requests from other member states and questions around how those requests will be processed and their respective outcomes. There is a lack of safeguards and incentives for providers to consider data protection rights and other fundamental rights.”
“The adequate level of resources needed is something that needs to be addressed. We are aware that there are concerns in relation to the lack of safeguards and incentives for service providers to consider data rights and other rights. We also have laws around privacy and laws to prevent overreach. That has to be taken into consideration. There is a right to appeal in the legislation and that could significantly increase times and put pressure on our Courts Service. Five member states issued statements expressing concerns about the protection of fundamental rights and the application of effective judicial review under the e-evidence package. The concerns related to grounds of refusal in a case of manifest breach of fundamental rights. There are a number of those rights. One is the possibility of double criminality.”
“It is estimated service providers based in Ireland will receive in excess of 300,000 orders per annum because of the number of these information technology companies based here. Expecting the office, which is to be set up in such a short time, to be able to deal with that volume is something we really need to get answers about. Answers have not been provided in respect of that to date. There are serious questions about the financial and human resources this office is going to need. We are all aware of the difficulties people have in recruiting staff, especially where technological expertise is needed, as it certainly will be in respect of this office. It is even very difficult to get administrative staff, so I just do not understand how the Minister expects that this office is going to get established in that short period.”
“The time we have to debate it is very limited. It is supposed to come into effect on 18 August with the EU regulation. To suggest the office would be up and running given the huge scale of this is extremely ambitious but perhaps the Minister will enlighten us as to how that is going to happen. That it could be done in such a short time would be pretty amazing. If we were able to do everything else as quickly here, we would be well ahead of things but we are where we are. The EU evidence regulation was adopted three years ago in 2023. Many people are pointing to the delay as being due to some level of incompetence, possibly on the part of the Government. We are now deciding we are going to rush it through the House.”
“There is no dispute that an office of this nature is required. International co-operation, especially in regard to electronic data is obviously something we continually need as we move into the modern age. An awful lot of criminal cases will reach for information that is being stored in the cloud somewhere and an application will have to be made to try to pull that information down. That can often cause, as the Minister is well aware, huge delays in the criminal process and in moving cases forward, so this type of legislation is obviously needed. The way we are connected electronically across the world and across Europe is evidence of that. It is unfortunate this legislation is being rushed in the way it is. It is not allowing for the proper kind of scrutiny we need for something of this scale being established.”