I move:
That Dáil Éireann, in view of
—the increasing number of armed robberies and other crimes in urban and rural areas;
—concerns repeatedly expressed by the Garda regarding crimes committed by persons on bail;
—the `revolving door' system that passes for a penal system;
—the ready availability of drugs, particularly in our inner cities but now manifesting itself in towns throughout the country and in prisons;
—the fears expressed by small shopkeepers who are living in a state of virtual siege, particularly in the greater Dublin area;
—the failure to effect a reform of the court system; and
—the increasing incidence of violent crime, especially against vulnerable members of the community,
calls on the Government to restore law and order so that law-abiding citizens can go about their lives without fear of attack from criminals who are increasingly immune from punishment or even the pretence of rehabilitation.
The breakdown in law and order has been callously disregarded. The Minister for Justice has been cavalier in dismissing warnings, often twisting what Deputies say to imply some wrongdoings by Deputies for even raising the matter. At the same time the Minister has been abusing powers in a selfish and self-serving way to her personal political advantage. When I sought an opportunity to raise this matter in the presence of the Minister she chose to remain mute. Instead, that night she went to the Seanad and, while admitting the action, claimed these were proper activities for her to be involved in. I ask the Minister to explain why she decided to override the judgment of the Garda Commissioner on an operational matter for which he has responsibility. The Garda Commissioner refused a request from the Minister to move Garda district headquarters from Oughterard to Salthill and the Minister involved powers under section 6 (1) of the Garda Síochána Act, 1924 to direct him to do so based on "her personal knowledge" of the constituency. The Minister is alleged to have quipped that she has seen the polling boxes in Oughterard and that this would not do her any political damage.
In addition, the Minister has not dealt with allegations that she is directly and personally involved in vetting all applications from prisoners from County Galway, for compassionate release, temporary release or transfer to a training unit or an open prison in a way which directly discriminates against prisoners from County Galway in a most objectionable, unethical and dissolute manner. Such interferences in the criminal justice system are obnoxious and offend those communities which are treated in a separate and different manner. The justice system is being used to perpetrate injustice in a way which is demoralising the Garda and the prison service. How can the Labour Party remain in a Government which permits such behaviour? The Minister must assure the House that those malpractices will be discontinued and, if not, the matter should be considered directly by the Government and by the House.
There are serious problems in every facet of the criminal justice system. No apparent action has been taken by the Minister for Justice to solve them other than passing them to committees, review groups or deciding by looking into her heart how Garda resources should be deployed or what Galway prisoners should be given early release or other remissions. That arrogance cannot be tolerated in a civilised democracy. I am glad we will have an opportunity to hear from the Minister in this Chamber, rather than to have to read her comments made in the other House.
The Garda Síochána does not have the manpower to deal with the level of crime. Given the added problems they have faced in recent days and the potential for terrorist activities, the resources available to the Garda Síochána are laughable compared to those available to the RUC. I accept it is not possible to provide absolute security. With the threat of terrorism breathing down our throats, the undermining of State institutions by the IRA and other criminal organisations, crime at an all time high level in the community and with people afraid to leave their homes, how can we justify Garda numbers of 500 less than a few years ago?
I hope the Minister will explain to the lady to whom I spoke in Rialto yesterday, who had eight stitches in her forehead, had been followed home, had her door kicked in and whose elderly mother had been mugged on two occasions, why Garda numbers have been allowed to decrease? The Minister's so-called crime package about which we have heard so much since last December will do little to tackle the problem. The last occasion such a package was introduced was during the period Deputy Collins was Minister for Justice. He announced a £100 million crime package, not a £66 million one over a number of years as promised by the Minister.
The budget for the Department of Justice and the criminal justice system is of the order of £550 million. An additional £66 million over the next five years only allows for inflation and is not a real increase. The former Minister for Justice, Deputy Collins, said we would have an airborne section in the Garda, but all we have had are airborne Ministers, civil servants and gardaí who travelled around the world to inspect such equipment. There has been no mention of an airborne garda unit except in the Estimates for the Department of Justice where, to the embarrasment of all, a token sum of £1,000 has been provided. It is time we called a halt to such PR exercises, photo opportunities and made a real and determined effort to provide the resources necessary to deal with lawlessness, vandalism and crime which has spiralled out of control.
People cannot recall so many violent murders in such a short period. Three people were shot dead in County Clare, a woman was shot dead, having left her home in the west of Ireland and a man was shot dead as he stood next to a bonfire in Dublin in October last. Regularly, people have their doors kicked in and shots fired at them. Many of the murders in Dublin are drug related. People have become prisoners behind locked doors, alarms, shops with shutters and must contend with roads with ramps. People in rural Ireland, who have felt safe in the past, are terrified to go out. Under the policing regulations which came into effect in the early 1990s, they are expected to report problems they encounter to a green box.
What has happened to policing policy? Why does the Government not have a policing policy? Why do we not have a proper plan to deal with crime which includes a policing policy? I do not know if the recruitment figures promised will do much more than cover Garda natural retirement in that period. The 500 manpower shortage in the Garda should be dealt with by means of short term recruitment and, if necessary, recruiting retired staff for a short period while Garda recruits are undergoing training. We need innovation, gardaí on the beat and not green boxes. We need gardaí who know what is happening and are prepared to take action to deal with the problems faced by people in the community. We cannot continue to allow a situation where people cannot go about their daily lives without the fear of being raped or mugged, of having their handbags snatched or, may the Lord protect us, of being shot. There has been a progressive deterioration in our drugs problem to a stage where drugs are now sold openly on the streets of our cities and towns and are freely available in prisons. In the last ten days I spoke to two people in an inner city flats complex. One man told me that he had learned his drug habit in prison. He went into prison without a heroin problem and came out a heroin addict. This morning a man in an inner city flats complex told me his son went into prison and would never have had a drug problem had he not taken heroin there.
Whatever happened to law and order? This is central to the crime problem we face. People are mugging and beating and robbing, intimidating people and driving them out of their businesses, locking people in their homes and striking fear into the hearts of old and vulnerable people because they are out to get money at any cost to feed a drug habit. Drugs are sold openly on the street, not in Foxrock or certain parts of the city or the country, but their sale is tolerated in certain parts of our inner cities. That is wholly unacceptable and we should not tolerate or accept people going into prison, partly to be rehabilitated, picking up a drug habit there and coming out worse criminals than they went in.
Some commentators have blamed inter-divisional rivalry in the Garda Síochána for the failure of effectiveness in dealing with the dreadful events of recent weeks in Counties Clare and Galway. If these allegations are found to be true, that ineffectiveness must be tackled as a matter of urgency.
We must be thankful that the outrage in Pearse Street last weekend did not result in the mass murder of 300 or 400 people. However, questions must be asked about the ease with which the terrorists managed to reach the heart of Dublin with firearms and commercial explosives. With Garda strength at its present low level we have to wonder how confident people can feel that future outrages of this kind can be prevented. The RUC chief constable said on television some months ago — I heard him myself — that it was not a matter of if but when this sort of thing would happen. Let the Minister tell this House what steps were taken on receipt of those warnings? Were those warnings given privately at an earlier stage before they were given publicly? What steps were taken on receipt of those warnings to upgrade the security and defence of people in this city and country against terrorist attack, which took place with such ease last Saturday night?
The numbers in the Garda should be immediately increased in the manner I have outlined and the process of civilianisation within the Garda should be accelerated to free gardaí who are currently deskbound for duty on the streets of our cities and towns. The neighbourhood watch and community alert schemes should be given fresh impetus to help alleviate the fears of people, particularly old people living alone or in isolated places.
As to the law, the shackles that bind the Garda in tackling crime should be loosened so that they can be effective. I was criticial of parts of the criminal justice system when the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill went through this House recently. I criticised the Bill on two fronts, in that it did not contain sufficiently strong powers to deal with criminals and that it contained sections which interfered with the rights of non-criminals and which would make criminals laugh their heads off. To be fair to the Minister, she did accept a number of amendments, and the Bill when passed was better than when it first came before the House. However, the first prosecution under that Act was against a person handing out insulting literature. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the literature that was handed out is not the point. The point is that this public order Bill was supposed to give effect to powers to deal with the problems in the community.
Legislation which should have been passed to deal with such problems has not been passed by this House. I refer specifically to the opportunity which has been lost yet again, while the European elections and the by-elections are going on, to put a referendum on bail to the country. In a system where one is innocent until proven guilty, I do not believe everybody who is charged should be locked up. I do believe, however, that judges should have discretion. If they know that the person appearing before them is a known drug pusher or godfather, they should be allowed to take that into account in deciding whether that person should be allowed bail. There is a lack of understanding in this House of the problems people in local authority flats complexes face. This is serious because, first, people are taking the law into their own hands and, second, the problem itself is out of hand and results in the infliction of terrible injury on many people. At a flats complex that I called to recently, a woman I have known for a number of years and have had contact with in the past had buried her third child because of AIDS and had a fourth child who was developing full blown AIDS. Another woman and her husband both had HIV — the husband had developed AIDS but the poor man had not yet been told that, and the children do not know. That community has been inundated with drug pushing for many years and the forces of law and order have not come to their assistance.
I have concentrated on the lack of resources for the Garda; they should have the resources to deal with this problem. I have to say, however, that judges have been unrealistic in the evidence they seek before they will agree to evict a corporation tenant from a flats complex. I do not advocate hanging and flogging or the wholesale eviction of tenants. However, if one or two drug pushers turn a flats complex of 300 or 400 people into a haven for junkies who come in taxis from as far away as Dun Laoghaire or Malahide, they should be prosecuted if they do not obey the law. One of the regulations under the law is that they must, as tenants of the corporation, behave in accordance with their tenancy agreement. The corporation does not evict people easily and when they move to evict, having given several warnings, the District Court judge requires four witnesses which the local authority cannot provide because people are intimidated and will not give evidence. I want the law changed so that the evidence of the Garda superintendent or a member of higher rank who is aware of continuing complaints against the tenant in question will be accepted, not as compelling evidence but as evidence, when a judge is deciding whether that tenant should be evicted. I suggest that because at present witnesses cannot be obtained. People are terrified. They form their own committees. In some cases they go much further and form their own "kangaroo court" and march these people before them and order them to leave.
I do not support people taking the law into their own hands, but I understand the position these people find themselves in, most of them having nothing to do with terrorists or terrorist organisations or anything of that kind, when the forces of law and order, including the Judiciary, let them down. I want to see that provision included in the miscellaneous provisions Bill which the Minister promised to bring before the House.
I wish to refer to the prison system. As the Mountjoy Prison Visiting Committee, in its 1993 report, suggested, the prison system is "an appalling vista". This is not something new. The 1992 report regarded Mountjoy as a potential volcano, a prison running on crisis control. In the 1991 report the visiting committee reported:
Mountjoy Prison is greatly overcrowded. The prisoners find themselves in multiple cells. On occasions there are no cells available. The serious riots during the year were caused primarily by boredom and by frustration and by overcrowding.
This report refers only to Mountjoy; there are other prisons and further problems.
Since publication of the Whitaker report in 1985 some improvements in the penal system have been carried out, but much remains to be done. If we are serious about dealing with the current crime problem we must ensure that the prison system works efficiently, effectively and economically. More than £550 million will be spent this year on the criminal justice system. If the prison system is a failure — and it is — much of this money is being wasted since prisons are in part institutes for recycling criminals. Recidivism, the rate at which prisoners re-offend, is probably between 50 and 80 per cent, although it is difficult accurately to gauge this figure at any given time since criminal justice statistics in general and prison statistics in particular are not produced in a way that is conducive to accurate measurement of the problem.
Whitaker outlined the purposes imprisonment may serve as follows: punishment of offenders for the offences committed by them; deterrence of offenders from committing the same or similar offences after release from prison and deterrence of other who may be inclined to commit the same or similar offences; reformation or rehabilitation of offenders so that on release they will have been persuaded and equipped to avoid criminality; and prevention of offenders from committing the same or similar offences during the periods for which they are imprisoned. It must be noted that people are not sent to prison to be punished; imprisonment is the punishment. The prison system as it currently operates is not an effective system of reformation, rehabilitation or prevention, although it is clear that nobody wishes to lose their liberty and for this reason prison is a limited deterrent.
It is Fine Gael philosophy in every area of policy that people should, where they are capable of doing so, ultimately take responsibility for their own actions. This is not an imposition on individuals; rather it is a recognition of the worth and dignity of each individual. "Every person counts" is the message which is central to Fine Gael philosophy. This applies equally to the victim and the perpetrator of crime. The "hang 'em and flog 'em" brigade, while making what are often popular noises, do not effectively contribute to easing the problem of the victim. This should be done by confronting the perpetrator with his or her crime and seeking to bring about a change in behaviour by rehabilitation.
About 6,000 people per annum go through the prison system. The population of prisoners at any one time is slightly more than one-third of this figure. Approximately 280 people per annum are imprisoned for non-payment of fines or debts to banks and financial institutions. In a reply to a parliamentary question in my name I was told that 14 per cent of all committals to prison are for non-payment of fines, although at any given stage only 1 to 2 per cent of the prison population is made up of such defaulters. It is essential that provision be made at time of sentencing for the collection of fines and/or deduction of money at source, or confiscation of assets if fines are not paid. Prison places should be reserved for those who need to be incarcerated. All prisoners are incarcerated at considerable cost to the State.
The Government proposes to build a new prison to include 200 new places. The Whitaker report pointed out that the capital cost of each cell was £150,000 in 1985 terms — in today's terms that is probably nearer to £250,000. It could cost up to £6 million per year in running costs in addition to the capital cost. Before expanding the prison system we must ensure that the system is reformed and that it works. To build additional prison spaces without reforming the system would be to expand the existing recycling institute model. This means there will be an increasing base of recidivists. The prison system, far from being part of the solution, is part of the problem. Until we reform the prisons, that part of the problem will continue to grow, thereby unleashing criminals on the community.
In a recent ten-year period in the United States the prison population trebled but, despite this, crime continued to grow to record levels. Whitaker identified the following range of non-custodial penalties which should be used by the courts to dispose at their discretion of lesser offences: probation, fines, confiscation of income or assets in certain cases, restitution to society generally or to the victim directly, conditionally suspended prison sentences, community service orders, disqualifications and withdrawal of licences, requirement of attendance at a treatment centre for alcohol or drug abuse as an alternative to imprisonment, and other restraints on liberty operable within the community, for example, compulsory residence in approved hostels, compulsory participation on training programmes and reporting at intervals to the authorities. To this list might be added the application of individual curfew, the use of self-placed advertisements with photographs of the offender in newspapers which circulate in the neighbourhood of the offender, with a confession of the offence. Such a system has had effect for certain serious traffic offences, for example, in the United States.
I also advocate the holding of parents responsible in part for the actions of their juvenile children who are constant offenders — I emphasise the words "juvenile" and "constant". If one of my children was a juvenile offender on a constant basis I would expect to be brought before the courts and asked where I was when the child was offending. If a curfew was placed on my child — in some cases the court orders that children be at home at certain times — I would fully expect, as a parent, to be told to be at home with the child. It is time parents took responsibility for the actions of their children.
Six hundred and ninety-five persons in places of detention — approximately 31 per cent of the population of persons in detention — are juveniles between the ages of 14 and 17 years, and the maintenance cost is approximately £26 million per annum. Meanwhile resources cannot be found for adequate remedial education and 9.9 per cent of the juvenile school population in Dublin on any one day are mitching. According to the McBride report, it costs about £5,000 to incarcerate a youth for three months for the theft of £500.
Those who seek reform of the system are often dismissed as bleeding hearts or do-gooders. Before dismissing the argument for reform we must ask ourselves if any other system has been efficient, effective or economical. Most prisoners come from deprived backgrounds and neighbourhoods. Fine Gael believes in equality of opportunity; every person counts. We do not believe that people can be made equal since each individual has his or her own talents. Equal opportunity, however, is a different matter. For most prisoners, and whole sections of the community, access to third level education is not even a consideration. It is not on the agenda and their opportunities, therefore, are limited.
The housing conditions for many of those who go on to form the prison population are among the poorest in the country. That is not to stigmatise those who come from poor housing conditions as criminal but if there are 10,000 local authority flats, for example, situated between the canals in Dublin, in need of major refurbishment, it is inevitable that that poor housing environment will produce a proportionately greater number of people who are alienated from the system and who do not consider themselves part of a normal or fair society.
If we are to give people equality of opportunity we must put the refurbishment of housing stock at the top of the agenda and open third level education to all as a realistic objective. This is not to excuse prisoners for their behaviour, they must take responsibility for what they have done. If the system is to be effective, however, it must address the causes of crime and ensure that the cure is a real one and not a costly cosmetic exercise which pulls the wool over the eyes of the public. At present, the prison system is contributing to the problem rather than contributing to the solution.
As part of a prison reform policy and philosophy, Fine Gael believes that prison staff and management should work closely in co-operation. Good industrial relations are essential and for this reason staff should be properly trained and constantly retrained and should be involved in regular consultations on how the system is made to work.
The objective of the Fine Gael discussion document on prison reform issued some weeks ago is to put the reform of the prisons centre stage and to initiate a public debate on an informed basis so that this central ingredient in the criminal justice system is made to work and is seen to work. We have made a number of recommendations and I ask the Minister to accept them. This discussion document is not perfect, it was put together jointly by the Fine Gael Front Bench and Young Fine Gael in an exercise aimed at putting this question centre stage. We would welcome constructive comments and criticisms of it but if most of what is contained in it is implemented, it will go a long way towards bringing about a reform of the prison system and contributing to a downturn in crime.
I wish to refer to the need for the reform of the court's system, another vital ingredient in the reform of the criminal justice system to enable it to deal with the problems of the 1990s. A rationalisation of the District Court system is long overdue. We have heard nothing of the promise in the Programme for Government to establish a judicial commission, comprising the presidents of the courts and the Attorney General, to examine court management. Could it be that the Government partners have had a rethink about this promise?
I am opposed to this proposal because it states that judges should have a view on the management of the courts and the streamlining of court services. Judges are not the people to make such decisions. Their expertise is in the area of law, not in the area of administration. Why should the presidents of the courts be involved with the Attorney General in a matter for which they have no qualifications or competence? They should be asked for their views but a judicial commission should not be established. We should have an agency to administer the courts, similar to the practice in Northern Ireland and Britain. There should be no more commissions or reviews and we should certainly not have a judicial commission. I am appalled that, given the state of the court system, nothing has been done over the past 18 months to deal with the urgent problems that exist.
Some months ago I put before this House a ten point plan which was dismissed out of hand by the Government. The Government may have thought at that time that I would go away; I will not go away. I will continue to campaign for law and order, for efficiency and effectiveness in the system and for a fair system, not one which, when it is caught in a form of malpractice, the Government arrogantly and smartly tries to justify. It should have the good grace to admit that what was done was wrong and that the malpractice will cease.
The ten point plan I put forward included the need to measure the true level of crime. The crime statistics do not measure the true level of crime, only the level of reported crime. I have prepared a Bill to deal with that and I have put forward proposals in a detailed document — we were the only party in this House to do so — on how we should reform the prison system. I have argued also for the reform of the courts and the need for an agency to do so, not a commission of judges. I put forward an argument for greater co-operation and the creation of a drugs enforcement agency, the drug problem being the centre of all our crime.
I have argued for greater accountability for the DPP in given circumstances because I do not accept that cases which are not prosecuted, some involving loss of life, should be unexplained. I do not wish to interfere with the independence of the DPP but some method should be found to make him accountable. In Britain, the Attorney General is a Member of Parliament who must answer to Parliament and who can be questioned. There is no such person in this House and that represents a yawning gap in our system. Without interfering with his independence, the DPP should be accountable in certain circumstances. If one of our loved ones was killed in a car accident from which no prosecution ensued, nobody would explain to us the reason for this. There is no accountability and I find that wholly unacceptable.
We must have value for the £550 million which is spent annually on the criminal justice system. I recommended to this House that the Comptroller and Auditor General be asked to carry out an audit of the way fees are paid out to lawyers, barristers, solicitors and various consultants. The public see that for the scandal that it is. Why have we not conferred those powers on the Comptroller and Auditor General? He might well be asked to carry out a full value for money audit of the whole criminal justice system.
I want to see the confiscation of assets of criminals. The necessary legislation has been passed but when will it be implemented? When will the criminals feel the pain of having their assets confiscated? There should be more gardaí on the beat. The number should be brought up to what it was when we left office, with the possibility of an increase. I cannot and will not accept a situation where the Garda is undermanned by 500.
There must be parental accountability for regular juvenile offenders. I would fully expect to be asked to account for my whereabouts if my child was out on the street on a regular basis. I am not suggesting we should compel judges to adopt a particular course but parents should be involved in some way. There should also be restrictions, for instance, on the sale of hunting knives. Over the past 12 months in my constituency two young men have lost their lives in separate incidents involving the use of these knives.
I see a breakdown in law and order, a cavalier attitude to crime and a situation which is wholly unacceptable. With my party I will continue to raise this matter in the House until law and order is restored. The Minister will discover sooner or later that the public do not accept bland assurances; they want action and they are not getting it from the Government. I commend this motion to the House.