Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

The Senator raised four points. First, the language that is used in respect of aid of the civil power is also used in section 90 of the 1954 Act. That is language that has been in place for over 60 years. Second, the reason new wording is being put in by way of legislation is to modernise it. The Defence Act 1954 is out of date. Everyone in the House will appreciate that there is a benefit in modernising a provision such as this.
Third, the Senator is trying to suggest, although she did not state it, that the reason for this statutory provision is as a result of the fuel protests. As I said before, and as is publicly provable, this was announced by the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and discussed in March, way before there were any fuel protests.
Fourth, we will use the protests as the example of when the provision was used. The Garda recognised that it did not have the vehicles necessary to remove the very large vehicles that were blocking critical infrastructure, including refineries. The Garda knew that the Defence Forces had the relevant equipment, namely large trucks. A chief superintendent in one region put in a request to the Defence Forces in another region seeking the use of those large trucks to remove vehicles. Subsequently, a response was received. That is how it operates. It operates on the basis of what is needed in the here and now. That is why a request for members of the Defence Forces to be present during the search for the remains of Michael Gaine was submitted.
What we do not want to happen, I am sure, is for Senators and Deputies to be the people deciding whether or not the Garda needs to request information. Gardaí make the requests. They decide in respect of which areas it needs to be requested. If that happens, it has a political consequence as well on certain occasions, and it can be announced.
This provision gives it even greater democratic legitimacy because it is elected and appointed Ministers and members of the Executive who will be involved. The section states that the Minister for Defence may "give general approval for the deployment of a member of the Defence Forces in aid of the civil power for such class or classes of assistance as may be agreed with the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration." When looking at aid in terms of the type of classes, the information we see is readily available in terms of the four preceding years and will continue to be available.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02