I appreciate that courtesy. The Bill seeks to establish a national bureau of crime statistics. It is proposed that it would have certain statutory functions and powers, including accurately measuring, reporting and comparing the level of crime, analysing trends and issuing reports on request to certain office holders, including the Minister for Justice, members of the Judiciary and chairpersons of Oireachtas committees. My instinctive response to this Bill is to question why most proposals made to Government and to this House, even if properly motivated as this Bill is, usually call for the establishment of yet another layer of bureaucracy? I would sound a word of caution in that regard in relation to the proposed establishment of the bureau.
The Bill calls for yet another statutory body to join the army of agencies of which we have a surplus. The aim of Deputies both in Opposition and on the Government side should be to get the Government to work better and cost less. In these times of high Government spending we should be mindful of any proposal to set up yet another statutory body which is likely to employ more people and to cost more in public spending. Even though I support the general themes in the Bill, and believe there is a need for criminological research, statistics required for policy formulation can be compiled and present systems evaluated if existing resources in the Department of Justice are co-ordinated with those of the Central Statistics Office, the prisons and the Garda Síochána.
The Garda are the best placed professionals to provide statistics as they form part of their daily operations. They have immediate access to salient information. If they were properly resourced, as it is shortly planned they should be, they should be the main agency to coordinate and evaluate criminal statistics for the benefit of our legislators and policy formulators. The Garda Síochána strategic plan, 1993-97, from which I read today, is an excellent document. There is no shortage of good reports which have been compiled over the years by the Law Reform Commission, various select committees of the House, such as the Select Committee on Crime, particularly in respect of juvenile crime. That plan set out appropriate strategies which would transform the performance of Garda operations. It set out targets, in terms of performance indicators, to measure achievement and prioritise tasks. It outlines the resource requirements necessary to help achieve those targets in the most cost effective manner. We should not create more bureaucracy and greater expense for the Department of Justice in respect of compiling statistics. The resources exist but they need to be co-ordinated to make them effective.
As earlier speakers said, law and order is high on everybody's agenda. Recently, my party, as a member of the Dublin Transportation Initiative, carried out a survey in line with general public consultation procedures. We were hoping to receive a response in respect of traffic management and general levels of satisfaction with public transport. The questionnaire contained general questions, such as the issue which most concerned the citizens of Dublin. People listed the level of crime as the main issue. That questionnaire was not targeted to obtain that answer. People volunteered the information that they were afraid to go out in Dublin after dark.
The level of crime is a matter of high priority on the electorate's agenda. The electorate who voted Deputies into this House expect that we will vocalise their concerns in regard to law and order. There is not only a perceived, but a real increase in the incidence of crime among communities and this is highlighted by crime statistics. There is a tendency, which must be resisted by legislators, to call for quick fix solutions. I disagree in principle with the speaker who referred to do-gooders and people who take an integrated approach to the problems of crime rather than proffering quick fix solutions. We must resist the call for quick fix solutions, more agencies, prisons, less respect for civil liberties and a positive howling for retribution. Given the high level of crime such requests are understandable. However, legislators and policy makers must resist such requests. There is a need to be reflective and to adopt an integrated approach to policy formulation in relation to criminal justice. Such an approach might not get good headlines or soundbites for Deputies, nonetheless it is worthy.
The Whitaker Committee of Inquiry into the Penal System was an excellent committee. Paragraph 3.3 of the committee's report discovered, among other things, that society should be less emotional in its response to crime and more aware of the contributions to crime made by deficiencies in its own structures and operations. We should seek to change institutional matters, as appropriate, rather than adopting a knee-jerk reaction and dealing only with enforcement and heavy handed tactics. Crime is a multifaceted problem and locking people up and throwing the keys away will not solve the problem.
Criminology is not a well developed science in academic Ireland. Most lawyers who study law in our universities focus on the solicitor or barrister profession. Very few lawyers continue further academic studies in criminology and compare our justice system with that of other places, such as America, Scotland and so on. There is a definite need for a criminal research centre, which could be based in universities, to collate and analyse data and to provide a dispassionate analysis of fundamental aspects of crime and punishment.
When speaking on the budget recently the Minister outlined that the £66 million allocated for law and order is aimed at reducing crime and strengthening the capacity of the criminal justice system to respond to crime. She stated that recorded indictable crime increased by 1 per cent in 1992. The figures for 1993 are not yet available, but there is little doubt that they will show an increase on the 1992 figure. To her credit, the Minister recognises that crime is a complex multifaceted problem and that law enforcement policies should be only a part, albeit a vital part, of the Government's response to the problem. This brings me back to the point that the aim of any policy initiative from either side of the House should be to ensure that the system works better and costs less.
The strategic plan set out by the Garda contains very interesting statistics and compares our performance in terms of criminal activity with that of other EU member states. It has been stated that we have a high incidence of murder, but it does not compare with that in other EU countries. There is a degree of hysteria here in terms of the statistics on some elements of violent crime. All other EU countries have a homicide rate many times that in Ireland, some by a factor of more than six. The rate of burglaries in Greece, Belgium, Portugal and France is lower than that here, while in the UK, Holland, Germany and Denmark the rate is more than twice that here. The crime rate here doubled between 1960 and 1970 and again between 1970 and 1980. Apart from a peak in 1983, the crime rate has stabilised since 1980. There was a 7 per cent increase in the crime rate in 1991 as compared with 1990, although it is debatable whether that is indicative of a trend. There was a peak in the incidence of burglary in 1983 and there was a considerable reduction in 1990.
It is interesting to note that crimes of stealing in which firearms were used increased from a virtual zero rate prior to 1969 to practically two per day in the mid-eighties. There has been a considerable fall-off in this crime since 1988 and the use of firearms in crime appears to be waning contrary to what some people believe. However, there has been an increase in the use of violence in the furtherance of criminal acts generally, particularly those of stealing, and the figures have been consistently high since 1982.
The Garda authorities have all the statistics, but they need extra resources to respond to the challenges posed by the current problem of terrorism and illegal drug dealing. Today we discussed the Criminal Justice (No. 3) Bill, which deals with the seizure of criminal assets relating to drug dealing.
The decline in formal school control has been recognised by the Garda as one of the reasons for the growing number of juvenile offenders. The long awaited Juvenile Justice Bill will, I hope, provide an integrated solution to the whole question of juvenile crime. As has been mentioned, persistent long term unemployment creates the potential for a large body of disaffected youth. This matter should be dealt with in the Juvenile Justice Bill, which will be introduced in the House soon. I hope that we will have a civilised debate on that Bill. The committee on juvenile crime recommend that the whole question of juvenile crime should be approached in a compassionate manner. I reject the allegation that I am a do-gooder when I say that it is absolutely imperative that we take a compassionate approach to juvenile crime. Children are not born criminals; they are influenced by their environment, and we must respond to their needs.
The report recognises the relationship between crime and greater urbanisation, particularly the existence of pockets of disadvantage in our bigger cities and towns. As Deputy Crawford said, it identifies rural depopulation, which results in many elderly people living alone; rendering them more vulnerable in terms of their houses being broken into and being abused by criminals.
In dealing with crime we need to pool all available resources rather than create further layers of bureaucracy. The resources allocated by the Minister for increased Garda recruitment — 407 gardaí are to be recruited this year — are to be welcomed. The employment of civilians on clerical duties would ensure that a greater number of gardaí are available on the streets. There is no point training gardaí in a specialised manner — training has been enhanced and is second to none in Europe — if they are to be employed on desk duties. The increase to 900 in the number of clerical civilians in the force is welcome.
Perhaps in reply to the debate the Minister would give greater detail on the research unit which it is proposed to establish in the Garda Síochána. The general thrust of our approach to criminal justice should be to reward the ideas that work and to get away from the ideas that have not worked. I do not believe in the agency-led approach to policy. There are many good people in the Garda, the prison service and the Central Statistics Office and we should concentrate on integrating the whole system. The Progressive Democrats believe that regulatory overkill should be eliminated. There is a huge amount of red tape, some of which is necessary but much of which makes Government processes cumbersome. Anybody who has been involved with State agencies knows that red tape and regulations are prohibitive of development.
Deputy Bruton referred to local authorities. Local authorities should be given greater powers to deal in a local and more targeted way with crime. In Dublin City Council there is a crime committee which deals with specific areas of concern in the Dublin area. Despite the fact that this committee has no real powers or resources, it is a useful committee. The whole question of devolving powers to local authorities needs to be addressed. Local authorities are best situated to be proactive in terms of housing policy, which could have an influence on crime. When speaking earlier today about the drugs problem in Dublin I mentioned the difficulties experienced when a drug pusher moves into a local authority flats complex. Parents who are terrified that their children may have drugs pushed on them by these people — they may be squatters — have called on the local authority to have them evicted. Local authorities face onerous legal obstacles in trying to evict squatters. This issue has to be looked at. The residents in some inner city flats complexes have become so politicised about this issue that they marched to City Hall to express their outrage at the hands-off approach being taken by the local authority, the lack of response to the needs of people who want to protect their children from drug pushers.
Development and land use policy have to be taken into account in any integrated approach to the planning of successful communities. If we wrongly create, as we have done through misplaced planning policies, ghettos and disadvantaged areas where there are inadequate facilities, no playing fields and no proper public transport system we will only add to the problem. Generally we are bad at planning — we tend to prepare for the worst rather than plan for the best. This applies in particular to the criminal justice area where we think we have to build more prisons because the crime statistics are increasing. Instead of doing this, we should be thinking ahead, planning and integrating all our resources in an effort to improve the environment where criminals are born and reared.
The residents of St. Catherine's Parish in Dublin 7, who have become politicised in an effort to tackle the drugs problem in their community, have recorded 40 drug pushers operating in the Meath Street area. The local residents are seeking funding to build a community centre and to date have raised £1,000. The cost of building a community centre should be compared to the £40,000 cost per annum of keeping a person in jail. Young people in the inner city area cannot be blamed for getting involved in crime when adequate facilities are not provided for them. I understand how these children can drift into a life of crime. Many of them come from dysfunctional families, some have an alcoholic father or mother and most come from families which are under stress. It is not acceptable for us to adopt the "hang them high" law and order approach to this issue. We can see how the problems start.
Even in some of the more prosperous new communities in Dublin south, for example, Knocklyon, there is a real need for the provision of adequate facilities such as playing fields for young people. Because these facilities are not available in many areas the young people go into town and many of them start stealing from shops. We need to look at the community aspect of the problem and ensure co-ordination between local authority departments. Targeted schemes such as these, together with community and juvenile liaison gardaí, are the answer to tackling crime on a local level.
The committee on juvenile crime made some excellent recommendations when it reported in March 1993. For example, it proposed the establishment of a local juvenile crime prevention committee within the Garda divisions in urban areas and a national juvenile crime prevention committee. More importantly, it recommended a ban on the use of adult prisons for offenders under 17 years. Child offenders under 12 years of age are the proper responsibility of the Minister for Health under child care legislation. It is absolutely atrocious that any child under the age of 17 years should be sent to an adult prison.
On 23 December 1993 the Department of Justice published its annual report on prisons for the period 1988-91. The report highlights the ongoing imprisonment of 15 and 16 year old children in adult prisons, but shows a decrease from approximately 120 in 1987 to under 20 in 1991 in the number of children in adult prisons. While I welcome this decrease I believe there should be a complete ban on the use of adult prisons for persons under the age of 17 years.
With regard to institutional matters which cause problems in the administration of justice, the Minister will be aware of the serious concern among practitioners and the general public that people who have been convicted of serious crimes are being released from jails by way of temporary releases because of overcrowding. This highlights the inability of jails to contain the number of people convicted of serious crimes. Undoubtedly we need more prison places. The Progressive Democrats welcome the provision of resources in the context of the £66 million package to create 210 more prison places, including 60 places for female prisoners. The issue of people reoffending while on temporary release is very serious and undermines confidence in the justice system.
I wish to refer to the pressure on accommodation and the introduction of a system under which prisoners with a 50 per cent remission can transfer to open centres. The statistics relating to full temporary releases show that a total of 1,619 people were granted full temporary releases in 1991. This is covered by section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1960. The Minister is empowered to grant temporary releases in cases where a range of criteria are satisfied. The main reason for the granting of temporary releases is the lack of prison space. In many cases prisoners share cells. The situation is almost as bad as that when, due to very long hospital waiting lists, people had to sleep in corridors. Such a situation is totally untenable.
The figures for individuals who offend while on temporary release are very worrying. Of the 2,688 prisoners granted temporary release on a short-term and weekend basis in 1991, 302 people broke the conditions or absconded. The figures are contained in the reports which have been published. Consideration needs to be given to the number of people who reoffend while on temporary release. This problem has the capacity to undermine confidence in the justice system.
The Minister is looking at the question of bail in the context of the Law Reform Commission's proposals. I look forward to hearing how the Law Reform Commission will balance the need to maintain the presumption of innocence, which is fundamental, with the problem of people reoffending while on bail. I should like the Minister to tell us the number of people who reoffend while on bail — statistics are bandied about but no one has conclusively evaluated the extent of the problem.
The Minister has accepted that law enforcement can only be a part, although a very vital part, of the Government's response to increased criminal activity. There is a need for some kind of criminal justice research and a full audit of our prison population. When I visited Mountjoy Prison recently I was told that something like 80 per cent of the prison population there came from five postal districts in Dublin. That is an extraordinary statistic if it is to be believed. There is an average daily prison population of 2,000. It should be possible to obtain a social profile of people who end up in prison with a view to formulating some policy in this regard.
I support the general thrust of the Bill but I am very concerned that it may create another layer of bureaucracy and another agency which we certainly do not need.
