The Chair has given Deputy Brady permission to raise the subject matter of attacks on the elderly in Dublin city. The Deputy has 20 minutes.
Adjournment Debate. - Attacks on Dublin Elderly.
With the permission of the Chair, I wish to apportion that time so as to allow my colleague, Deputy S. Walsh, to participate also in the debate for five minutes.
First, I thank the Chair for giving me this opportunity to raise what I consider to be one of the most pressing social problems in our midst at present. At this late stage in the evening, I tender my best wishes to the Minister of State on her appointment to this portfolio.
The increasing incidence of vicious and savage attacks on elderly folk in Dublin city is alarming and something must be done about it. It is perhaps the most awful of crimes. Vulnerable, elderly, frail people are picked out knowingly by vicious criminals and in many cases robbed of what could be termed their burial money. The lamentable statistic is that close on 40 per cent of crimes of this kind are not reported, but the awful reality is that these people cannot defend themselves. It is very difficult to defend oneself in an attack of that kind unless one is an artful exponent of karate or some such art of defence.
That the elderly are harassed and attacked in this manner will be deplored by the entire House. Much of this is caused by the upsurge in drug taking and drug addiction. The young and not so young, vicious in their need created by this terrible, addictive habit, attack the most vulnerable. Regretfully, there is no organised system of keeping watch on our elderly folk. We must now put statistics aside and realise that we are dealing with a very urgent human problem, dramatically on the increase in Dublin.
I shall not list a litany of such happenings, because I am quite sure that the Minister is well aware of incidents. However, I shall give two recent examples. An old lady of 93 years was brutally attacked in Rathmines and robbed of a very small sum of money. It was known that she had this small sum of money — many like to put away £100 or £200 under their beds or elsewhere for security, so as to leave planet earth without owing any debts. That is the type of upbringing which these people had.
In Clontarf, two elderly sisters were recently attacked, both well into their eighties. I also know of cases where the elderly have been threatened with the burning of their small homes and chalets unless they give away their pensions and contribute money on a regular basis. This is happening every day of the week. It is one thing to talk about it, but I hope to offer to the Minister what I would regard as practical proposals which she could immediately adopt without incurring any extravagant expense on the Department. That Department are very hard pressed at the moment, as I realise all too well. The Minister is engaged in her Department in investigating the feasibility of community policing on a greater scale. More police patrols and greater police presence would be very welcome, certainly to this side of the House.
I suggest tonight — and it can be done quite easily — the initiation of a neighbourhood watch scheme in Dublin city. Such a scheme has the approval of the Garda authorities and would work directly in co-operation with the Garda. This scheme works to great effect in the United States where urban crime and attacks of this kind have been reduced in the order of 30 per cent. No element of the vigilante is involved, but rather a caring atmosphere of co-operation in the community should be in operation.
The Minister could easily establish an advice centre in which very willing residents' associations and community groups, who are very anxious to become involved in such a system, could seek organised and well thought out information rather than take the law into their own hands, which we would all deplore. In this centre, people could be advised on how to set up a community watch. It would be well worth while if the Minister or her officials were to travel abroad to collect information to be presented to the House. It would start with perhaps ten or 20 such neighbourhood watches throughout the city and the system could expand from there.
Every senior citizen should be equipped with a simple and effective alarm system. We are not talking about high cost — about an elaborate system of wiring households or flats. I suggest some type of warning system to which other members of the community would be alert and would know exactly what was happening if such an alarm went off. In some cases of extreme isolation, perhaps the alarm system could be linked with other neighbours' houses. This could work very effectively, right into the schools. It could encompass all types of associations. The Irish Countrywomen's Association are very keen to become involved in schemes of this kind, as are many residents' associations.
My next point concerns trying, where possible, to equip elderly folk with telephones. Here again, if this would be a very costly operation — and I realise the pressure on telephone lines — it might well be possible to provide extensions to other households who were willing to keep a watch on the elderly.
All this would have to be assisted by a publicity campaign carried on in the Minister's Department, in conjunction with the Department of the Environment, through local authorities. The machinery is there already and the infrastructure is there. It is just a question of organising things to introduce a system of watching over elderly folk in Dublin city. Naturally violent crime of this nature does not only affect old folk but applies in every walk of life. My reason for mentioning the elderly is that reports I have received in my own constitutency, where people from all walks of life reside, suggest that the elderly are living in fear. Close on 46 per cent of Dubliners are afraid to go out alone at night within one mile of their homes. That is an alarming statistic. It is a big change from the Dublin we knew five years ago. This situation will be aggravated by increasing unemployment. As the Garda become more efficient in combatting crime greater attention will be paid to the soft touch — those from whom it is easier to get money.
I think I will receive co-operation from the Minister this evening but if I get a feeling that something practical will not be done we will have to keep pressing this further and do our best to highlight the problem through local authorities. There is an obligation on the Minister for Justice to do something. The Garda tell us they cannot cope with the problem alone. I share that view. Looking to the establishment is not the answer. The community must be involved in a neighbourhood watch. That is the secret. Erect signs in neighbourhoods to show that the neighbourhood is being watched with the approval of the Garda. I suggest that the Minister compile a register of elderly people. By doing so it would be much easier to put the system into operation. I await anxiously the Minister's reply for some practical action to be taken.
I thank the Ceann Comhairle for affording Deputy Brady the opportunity to raise this matter. I thank the Minister for attending. Deputy Brady referred to the city area. I should like to refer to the outskirts of Dublin which were once outlying areas but now have become built up. The problems of the elderly in these areas are well known. Their movements are well known and they are a marked people. If they remain inside their movements are still well known. On occasions such as when they collect their social welfare on Fridays they are a marked people. They are living in fear. I appreciate the problem is not a new one.
I have no doubt we will receive co-operation from the Minister. I am also concerned about milk roundsmen who collect money at the week-ends. I refer particularly to employees of Premier Dairies in Crumlin. The attacks on these men number four or five at weekends. One employee of Dublin Dairies was brutally assaulted and viciously attacked recently. He had to be hospitalised. Something will have to be done. The time has come for all bodies to work together including the police and firms such as these. These employees give a wonderful service to people. They are in danger at the week-ends particularly on Friday evenings. Some of them live in my constituency. These men deserve special mention. In looking at the problem the Minister should give some consideration to this problem.
I thank Deputies for their good wishes. I commend both Deputies for their sincerity and concern about this problem. I have no doubt that they reflect the concern of everyone in the House. We all have elderly relatives. We have been confronted with the problem of protecting the elderly in our constituencies. It seems to be an almost impossible task.
I noted the points made by Deputy Brady. They are worthy of deep and serious consideration. I also saw the US system of neighbourhood watch while in Philadelphia last year and was intrigued by it. There were placards placed on trees in the area and as a stranger to the country one could not but be alterted to this apparently well organised system. When I inquired about it I felt it was an extremely good idea. I was not long enough in the city to see how efficient it was. Apparently the Deputy has gone into it in greater detail. The Minister for Justice referred to it in a debate recently in the House. These cowardly attacks must be condemned in the strongest possible manner. Society which has become used to all forms of violence and destruction is still repulsed by accounts of attacks on old people. There is no excuse for the violence and viciousness meted out by the perpetrators of such crimes particularly against the most vulnerable.
The general increase in crime in recent years presents an obvious danger to society. Many reasons are put forward for the upsurge in criminal activities. Some commentators put the blame on declining moral values, while others are critical of the way offenders are treated and many would like to see greater deterrents. Whatever the reason it is clear that more people are prepared to break the law by perpetrating attacks both on people and on property, private and public. These people will not be allowed succeed. The Government have a definite commitment to do whatever is necessary to maintain standards of law and order.
Crimes of violence can have many effects. There is the physical injury that is the immediate result. That is bad in itself but there are other effects especially when one speaks of the elderly. One of the noticeable effects is that while an elderly person may not be injured to any great degree at the time of an attack, the shock and the trauma that ensue may prove fatal within a short time. I have known of cases of sprightly seventy-year-olds or older who would have continued to enjoy life but for having been attacked after which they went into a slow decline.
In addition the knowledge that violence is so close has the effect of leaving people afraid. As the Deputy said, about 40 per cent of all people in Dublin are living in fear. This can create restrictions and limitations on their lives to the extent that it forces them to impose curfews on themselves and to regard as no-go areas places to which they would in the past have gone to freely. It is important that the public be kept informed of the level of crime and of the steps being taken to deal with it but it is regrettable that the sensational reporting of crime can often cause grave anxiety particularly to the elderly. The problem of attacks on senior citizens is part of the wider crime problem but it is a problem that is being tackled on a number of fronts. We are increasing Garda manpower, improving the deployment of gardaí and giving greater powers to the Garda. Obviously, in the time available it is not possible to go into detail on the wide-ranging measures being taken but I would refer to one important aspect, that is, the effort being made to increase substantially Garda presence in our streets. In the recent past Garda presence had decreased. The elderly have been accustomed to seeing gardaí on the beat and this has given them a feeling of security.
One of the questions I should like to put regarding attacks on old people and the fact that many of these attacks are perpetrated by very young boys and girls is, what has happened to the respect and the regard that young people had for the elderly? Why has there been this apparent alienation between the generations? Is it because of the break-up of the extended family? Have we put a generation gap between the teenager and the 60-, 70- or 80-year old? If one has respect for one's grandmother or grand-aunt one would hardly be so hostile and vicious to someone else's elderly relative.
The public like to think that the Garda are readily accessible to them and are reassured by permanent Garda presence. A total of 450 recruits have been assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan Area since August last and Garda strength in the area is now the highest ever. Most of the new recruits are being assigned to a revised rostering system which allows for greater concentration of manpower at the times when demand for Garda services is greatest. In addition, the commissioner recently carried out a review of Garda deployment. Following this review he has arranged to have the strength of the uniformed branch augmented in so far as possible. More frequent patrolling on the beat by gardaí plays a big part in allaying public concern about crime. Perhaps this is the best means the Garda have for coping with their prime objective of protecting people and property and of preventing crime.
The recent attacks on elderly people are of considerable concern to the Garda. In one case a person has been charged with a very serious offence while other cases are under active Garda investigation. However, the proposals and the suggestions that the Deputy has put forward and which are positive and worthwhile will be taken note of. Indeed, I would agree with a great deal of what the Deputy says. When we as public representatives hear of cases of attacks on old people or of old people being afraid because of being on their own following the death of a spouse or after children have left home or because of attacks on other people in the area, one is tempted to contact somebody in the community. This situation is one that should cause concern to more people than the Garda. I agree that some community interest should be engendered. This is a sad reflection on the society we live in but we cannot continue to tolerate a situation in which our elderly are put at such a risk.
The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 15 June 1983.