When one reads the terms of the motion submitted in the names of Deputy Dowling and other Dublin Deputies one is at a loss to understand why Deputy O'Brien will not support it. When he reads his contribution he will see that during the course of it he admitted there was need for more gardaí on the streets, more night patrols, the maintenance of full strength in city Garda stations, particularly those in his constituency, and extra gardaí everywhere. I, therefore, find it very difficult to understand why he is not entirely in sympathy with the terms of the motion. He indicated that attacks were made on the Minister for Justice. No such attack was made.
The motion condemns the Government, who have the ultimate responsibility for providing sufficient gardaí in this city. It would be very erroneous for anybody to accept that the gardaí and matters connected with the Department of Justice are the sole preserve of the Government in office. If the Deputies on this side of the House did not acknowledge their responsibility in relation to this matter we would not bother tabling motions like the one we are discussing tonight. The remarks I make tonight are made in regard to how I see my responsibility as an elected representative of a Dublin constituency.
The Minister asked Deputies to refrain from using extravagant phrases in connection with this matter, but he gave us the most blatant example of it. This is my responsibility as much as it is that of the Minister. Deputy O'Brien, Deputy Hugh Byrne or anybody else. I believe that the Garda force in this city has become a joke. I get instances of that at meetings which I attend. I am sure Deputy Hugh Byrne will remember that four or five years ago when we visited resident groups in our area and when various problems were mentioned if there was one which should be dealt with by the gardaí and if Deputy Byrne or I said that we would take that up with the local inspector or the local superintendent everybody was satisfied. The members of the audience accepted that we could then move to the next business. I cannot say that any more, I know if I said something like that to members of the public it would be treated with derision.
I know that we have vandalism, mugging and thugs, but I am very concerned that the Garda force, which hitherto enjoyed the confidence of our people and were so well respected by them, are now in the position where the people have no faith in them. The public have had on many occasions to go to their local Garda station to tell of some robbery or some house breaking or that a Garda was needed at a particular place. They have invariably been told that no garda was available. Sometimes they have been told that while there was a squad car outside the station there was nobody to drive it or that the motorcycle man was gone some place else.
The Minister told us that there was a reduction in the rate of increase in crime. I listened to the radio report this morning and I have read the press reports. One would imagine that the Minister said there was a considerable reduction in crime in Dublin. The Minister spoke about a reduction in the growth of increase in crime. He told us that in 1975 it was 18½ per cent increase on the previous year's figure and last year it was only 11 per cent increase on the 1975 figure. However, if we take it for the two years we find an average increase of 14 per cent over the 1975 figure, which is a shattering increase. It is misleading the people to say that there is an improvement. It gives an appearance of health where there is cancer.
I want to refer to the position in my constituency, particularly the Garda station in Finglas. I made inquiries about this station, which serves at least 100,000 people. It covers an area of approximately seven miles. The area has 20 public houses, several banks, shopping centres and schools. I do not say this in any disrespectful manner but this area has two itinerant camps. It has about 400 unauthorised itinerants with straying horses.
Last Saturday in Finglas station there were two sergeants and six men. That might seem reasonable when one first looks at it. However, three of those men were at a check point on the main road approximately five miles away from Finglas village. They were lost to the community they are supposed to serve. That reduced the staff to two sergeants and three men. One of those men was attending duties at the Phoenix Park racecourse. That left the village of Finglas with two sergeants and two men. One of the two remaining men was out on a motor cycle and one sergeant had to mind the barracks. That left one sergeant and one garda patrolling the whole area and endeavouring to look after what is a city situation on a Saturday afternoon. I do not agree entirely with those who say that Dublin is being ruled by mobs. We must be grateful that standards in the community are such as to allow us to continue to live in reasonable harmony. It is a compliment to the people of Finglas that, despite there being only one sergeant and a garda in the whole area on a Saturday afternoon, the incidence of crime is relatively low.
The Minister talks of appealing to the community to do better but were it not for the high standards among the community, there would have been chaos long ago. Surely the Minister was not implying that the maintenance in Finglas of high standards is due solely to the area being patrolled by one sergeant and a garda. On Sunday evening I made it my business to inquire as to the situation. This was at about 9.30, a time associated with people leaving licensed premises and when discos are beginning. I found that there was one sergeant and four men on duty. The sergeant and one garda were manning the station while one garda was on motorcycle patrol. The squad car was parked outside the station and, on inquiring as to why it was not being driven, I was informed that it was an automatic and that there was no one available at that time to drive such a model. This is the position with which the Minister is asking me to be happy. We should be failing in our duty to remain silent while such conditions exist. The Minister said that during Question Time I have shown much concern for the Coolock area. I expect he meant to say the Finglas area. In any case, I may be forgiven for being parochial enough to be interested in my own constituency.
It is a tribute to the civic spirit of the people of Finglas that matters in that area are so tranquil but I plead with the Minister not to push his good luck too for and to arrange immediately for an improvement in the policing situation. What is needed is an improvement that will restore the confidence of the people in the Garda Síochána and which will restore also the confidence of members of the Garda in themselves. Nowadays nobody qualifies for membership of the Garda unless, to say the least, he is intelligent. Consequently, these men are aware of the situation. They are mindful of the inadequacies of a system that provides for a situation in which, in the event of, say, two break-ins occurring simultaneously in a population of 100,000 people, they would not have the manpower to investigate the incidents. I recall that during my schooldays in Finglas when the population there amounted to only about 2,000, the Garda strength comprised a sergeant and two men. Today Finglas is an expanding area. Because of development there many new people are coming into the area and, on the law of averages, some of the newcomers must have what are known as records. How can the gardaí be expected to keep in touch with all those people? When I was teaching in Blanchardstown I was always pleased when a garda from the local station came to the school to chat with the students. Nowadays the gardaí have no opportunity to socialise with anybody in the area. Rather, they are strangers where they should be friends and be familiar with as many people as possible.
The Minister laid much stress on his intention to appoint an inspector in every area, a man who would act as a liaison officer between the station and the community. Every member of the Garda Síochána should be a liaison officer between the force and the community. Therefore, there should not be an attempt to isolate one man in an attempt to create the impression that some improvement is being made. Having said that, I trust that the inspectors who are being appointed will fulfil the role of liaison officers between the force and the community and that they will ensure that the gardaí become acquainted with local communities.
I shall not comment on matters that are peculiar to Garda regulations except to mention in passing that regulation which decrees that not more than one man may travel in a squad car. This regulation is the cause of much frustration among the Garda. Perhaps it is responsible for some of the depression I have noticed within the force. Should the Parliamentary Secretary or I be found driving a car without having our eyes on the road, we should be deemed to have committed an offence but a member of the Garda is expected to drive a squad car while at the same time watching for anyone acting suspiciously. Let us take the case of the driver who goes to the scene of some crime. In some areas he will have to lock his car because otherwise it might not be there on his return. Having left the car, what can he be expected to do on his own? I am not endeavouring to make capital out of this but we are all aware—politicians in particular—that if there is no job motivation you will not have job satisfaction and, for the life of me, I cannot see how a garda employed in that fashion can feel he is performing any useful function and I would be interested to know at some future date the success which has attached to that new regulation.
The Minister quoted figures and again I accuse him of having been in breach of the request he made to us. He asked us not to distort figures and, having done so, he proceeded to draw a comparison between the situation here and the situation in England with reference to the per capita figures. He told us that for every 100,000 of population there was one garda to every 266 people, whereas in England the figure was one to every 280. He said we should be very happy about this.
My simple observation on that comparison is that we do not live in England. My comment on the distortion is that the Minister did not tell us that, whereas in England the totality of the force there is employed on what might be regarded as general police duties, here out of 8,500 men we have almost 2,000 employed on what are termed special security duties. That immediately reduces the force effectively to 6,000. I could make further deductions bearing in mind the sophisticated equipment and so on that the police across the water have. If the Minister were being factual in regard to existing circumstances here, he would not have given the House to believe that the situation here is comparable with that in England and, because it is, one could arrive at a comparable figure.
He did not make allowance for the fact that straightaway we must reduce our figure by the number of gardaí on special security duties. He gave the impression that the intention of this Government was superior to that of their predecessors in regard to looking after the force. I had a look at the Estimates over the last four or five years and I was surprised and, perhaps, pleased to note that in 1972-1973 a sum of £21 million out of a total of £585 million was spent on the Garda Síochána. The percentage is higher than it is in 1977. This year the percentage is on 3.4. This is no distortion. These figures are extracted from the Book of Estimates. I have them for the intervening years as well. Of the total Estimates in 1972-1973 we were spending approximately 3.8 per cent on the Garda Síochána. In this year, 1977, with the great law and order Government we are spending only 3.5 per cent on the Garda Síochána. These are facts. They cannot be contradicted. These are facts which show the manner in which this Government are treating the Garda Síochána. There is no doubt that the Government's attitude on the question of overtime has aggravated the situation and contributed to a large extent to the problems we have.
I agree with Deputy O'Brien that until such time as the 500 extra gardaí are available the Minister should compensate by asking the gardaí to perform overtime duties, the duties that will be performed by the 500 extra men when they become available. Surely he admits there is need now for 500 extra gardaí and, if he is sincere, he will immediately indicate to the Commissioner—perhaps that is not his function—or at least make it known that in his opinion overtime commensurate with and in compensation for the absence of these 500 men he now admits are necessary should be done forthwith.
I cannot be accused of dramatising or distorting the situation. What I am about to say is not peculiar to Dublin. I know people in my constituency who are afraid to leave their houses lest they be attacked. I know others who are afraid to stay in their houses lest they be attacked because they know such attacks have happened with such frequency as to make them fear for their own safety. Worse still, they believe there is no point in going to the local police station for help because there are no men available.
Deputy Dowling made a telling case. Both he and I are speaking not just on behalf of our own constituents but on behalf of the people generally. I ask the Minister to apply himself now to restoring people's confidence in our Garda force and give people the sort of security that comes out of confidence in that force.
