Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 and Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009: Motions Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-25 ============================================================ Catherine Ardagh (FF), Dublin South-Central I thank all Senators who contributed today. I am grateful for their contributions, particularly those who spoke in favour, and there was also important discourse from those who did not. Every Senator in this House knows the appalling damage caused by organised crime, as outlined by Senator Andrews and others, particularly the damage caused by the drugs trade to individual families and communities. As a public representative, and now as Minister of State at the Department of justice, I have seen first hand the impact that organised crime can have on families and communities. Too often, it is ordinary people who bear the consequences - parents worried about their children, victims living with intimidation and communities striving to provide better opportunities for young people. Those people expect us to ensure that our criminal justice system has the tools necessary to tackle serious criminality and protect the public. The motion before the House today very much does that. I will refer to some of the issues raised by my colleagues, particularly in relation to the review of the independent report. This was outlined by Senators Gallagher, Kelleher and Andrews. As noted earlier, the Minister has accepted in principle the recommendations of the majority report and the proposals are being developed on that basis. The majority put forward a package of proposals on a modern legal framework to replace the Offences Against the State Acts and provide a new, stricter system overall with more checks and balances. They also recognise the need for such legislation to be subject to regular and meaningful independent oversight. The threats that the State faces today from paramilitaries have reduced and altered while, as Senator Kelleher said, other threats have increased. These changes should prompt a change of policy while also recognising that replacement legislation must maintain the legislative basis for an effective State capacity to deal with terrorism and organised crime on an ongoing basis, as well as being compliant with human rights and the rule of law. I agree with the report of the majority that any deviation from jury trial for indictable offences must be exceptional and based on the constitutional tests as set out in Article 38.3, and must have appropriate legislative safeguards in accordance with the Constitution. Senator Andrews raised the issue of the protection of jurors and I note the recommendations in the report in relation this. This was also raised in the minority report in relation to examining what measures, short of non-jury trial, can be taken to protect jurors. As I noted, the Department is currently undertaking a review of jury service. The review is informed by recent research on the topic, the Law Reform Commission's report on jury service and the legislative and policy developments in related areas over the past number of years. These include amendments to the Juries Act contained in the assisted decision-making capacity legislation, work by the Courts Service to centralise the jury summons process and the roll-out of an online platform to allow people to practically respond to jury summonses, which can be quite stressful for people who are not used to receiving such summonses. In relation to organised crime, the Department spent a record amount on budgetary measures. Over €2.74 billion was allocated in budget 2026 to An Garda Síochána and this enabled the Garda Commissioner to assign extra resources to specialist units involved in tackling organised crime. These include the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau, the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the armed support unit, as well as more resources for the Criminal Assets Bureau. An Garda Síochána continues to implement an enhanced national anti-drugs strategy through Operation Tara. The focus of this operation is to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks at all levels: international, national and local. It extends to anyone involved in the importation, distribution, cultivation, production or local sale and supply of controlled drugs. In relation to the issue of community safety, which was raised by Senator Andrews and other Members, the Government is committed to building stronger and safer communities, and strengthening An Garda Síochána is at the very core of this. However, community safety requires a broader approach. In April 2025, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, approved the establishment of 36 local community safety partnerships within each local authority area. They will now make their own decisions as to their day-to-day activities operating in accordance with the statutory regulations and having regard to guidance from the National Office for Community Safety. Queries related to their work should be directed to the relevant partnership office. Retaining these measures in respect of the most serious crimes associated with terrorism and organised crime ensures that justice can be served and is free any attempts to thwart the criminal justice process. At its heart, this debate is about protecting the public, supporting the rule of law and ensuring that those who seek to undermine our democracy and our communities are met with a firm and effective response from the State. I commend the motions to the House. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-25/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:07+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-06-25