The Labour Party warned today that sweeping additional powers for the Garda must not be allowed to become a cheap alternative to providing extra gardaí on the streets.
Labour's justice spokesman, Mr Joe Costelloe described the failure of the Government to honour its pre-election promise to recruit 2,000 additional personnel as "reprehensible".
But he said the party was not opposed in principle to the provision of additional powers to the Garda if they are genuinely necessary to combat the growing levels of serious crime. "Certainly there is no disputing the necessity of measures to deal with the activities of the criminal gangs who are running rampant," he added.
Meanwhile the Green Party joined with Labour in calling on the Minister for Justice to delay putting these new powers into operation until the proposed Garda Inspectorate has been fully established.
Green Party Justice spokesman, Mr Ciarán Cuffe said Mr McDowell "is now putting the cart before the horse". He said it was imperative that a (Garda) Ombudsman be appointed before granting any additional powers.
Under the General Scheme of the new Criminal Justice Bill 2003 published today, the Minister proposes a raft of extra powers to the Garda including reclassifying saliva as a "non-intimate sample" and clarifying that a member of the Garda can use "reasonable force" in taking such a sample.
The Bill also proposes to provide statutory powers to preserve a crime scene until a proper forensic investigation can take place, and giving the District Court general powers to issue search warrants in respect of arrestable offences.
Mr McDowell said he also intended to provide for the establishment of a DNA databank, which is already under consideration by the Law Reform Commission.
He said DNA profiling was an invaluable tool in crime investigation. "I believe the time has now come for us to ensure that we can make as extensive a use as possible of the DNA technique by ensuring the gardaí have available to them a comprehensive DNA databank for use in the investigation of serious crime."