Surveillance Bill - An end to a crazy anachronism

The Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill published by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern to allow for the use of covert surveillance in evidence in criminal trials, has been broadly welcomed in the midst of the current wave of gangland criminality.

There have already been 10 murders and a dozen shooting this year so far, compared with 19 murders in 2008.

Fine Gael and Labour have welcomed the legislation. Their only complaint was that it has taken so long to introduce it. Fianna Fáil came to power in 1997 promising zero tolerance with crime, having savaged the outgoing Government in the wake of Veronica Guerin’s murder. This was the first of a series of promises on which it had failed to deliver. It is perfectly legitimate to ask how the Government was able to introduce legislation to help banks and property speculators within a matter of days but took almost a dozen years to propose this legislation to cope with organised crime.