I am glad to get the opportunity to speak. I welcome the introduction of this Bill which will ensure that electronic evidence needed for criminal investigations can be requested by law enforcement from service providers. What I am thinking about is the apprehension of drug lords who are ruining our society and causing so much mayhem in families. We see youngsters committing suicide and the disruption of families. As I said, the mayhem it causes is terrible. I support any way that we can apprehend these people rapidly because they have our society completely ruined. It is happening in most rural places, villages and towns, and of course our cities. The effect it is having on family life is desperate. In relation to international co-operation, is this only with countries within the European Union's jurisdiction? It needs to go further than that. We need to have the same co-operation with countries outside of the European Union. Every one of us here knows they are coming from every part of the world. My worry, as I have said to the Minister here before, is our exposure along our coast. In many places even Kerry, we no longer have Garda stations. I worry, and many people worry, that drugs are coming in along the shore at night when they know nobody is monitoring or knows what is going on. We need more surveillance for that reason alone. That is a very important reason. We know the existing means to get the electronic evidence needed for criminal investigation is slow and complex, and depends on the goodwill of service providers. When we are in the vein of apprehending criminals, we should not be impeded in any way. It should not be down to goodwill as to whether they give the evidence or not. It should be mandatory that they give it. I am just talking about drugs and the desperate situation that we have in our country at the present time. We know the Garda is doing very good work in apprehending big amounts of drugs but that only tells you the amounts that are getting through. The disruption caused and the harm they are doing to our youngsters is terrible. More and more cases depend on electronic evidence, so any improvements in this process is welcome if it ensures criminal investigations can be progressed in a timely manner. My concerns, however, relate to the total cost of implementing this and running it each year. So far, the financial implications amount to a budget allocation of €73,000 for pay costs in 2026. In the context of the costs we have today with other things, that is a minimal amount of funding. I do not know how that can be effective or adequate. A total of €3 million in capital expenditure has also been allocated for the building of an IT system necessary to connect to the EU decentralised IT system. I must make way for my colleague, Deputy Carol Nolan.

Sentiment score: -0.13