Conviction of membership of an illegal organisation is to carry increased penalties, under a Bill introduced by the Minister for Justice.
Mr McDowell told the House that the maximum penalty would be €3,000, as well as a prison sentence of up to a year in the case of a summary conviction. Those found guilty on conviction on indictment could face an unlimited fine and an eight-year prison sentence.
The State, he added, had to face the challenge of terrorism from dissident republican and loyalist groups which continued to operate and pose a threat.
"As a result, our existing legislation is more comprehensive than that in many other countries. However, our existing legislation has been primarily framed with reference to the threat posed by groups indigenous to Ireland, and it is clear that, in the changed environment created by the events of September 11th, we need additional legislative provisions to counter the international terrorist threat."
The Minister was introducing the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Bill, implementing a range of measures agreed by the EU and the United Nations. He said the Bill would provide for the first time for terrorist offences as a separate and distinct category of offence in law.
To combat terrorism, it provided for the creation of dedicated procedures allowing for the freezing of funds used or intended for terrorist offences or terrorist groups, he added.
Mr McDowell said a member of the Garda or a Customs and Excise officer would have the power to seize and detain cash being imported or exported, if there were grounds for suspecting that it represented a person's proceeds of, or was intended to use in connection with, an offence of financing terrorism. He added that the Bill also provided for the recovery of property of unlawful organisations in certain circumstances.
"The Bill is important, not least because it will equip this State more fully for the purpose of responding to the threat posed by international terrorism, but also because it will enable this State to honour important international commitments and to play our full part, as a member of the international community, in the fight against terrorism."
The Fine Gael spokesman on justice, Mr John Deasy, said the Bill covered crimes with specific terrorist intent, and he did not think that legitimate protests would be affected by the Bill.
