Nothing better illustrates the seriousness of the mammoth crime wave than the fact that a robbery took place at the end of last week at the Royal Dublin Hotel, O'Connell Street, Dublin, a hotel in close proximity to the Garda station on O'Connell Street. The episode would be laughable if it was not so serious. The worrying fact is that the hotel is located beside the Garda station on O'Connell Street which was specifically established by a previous Minister for Justice, Deputy Geoghegan-Quinn, in order to have a permanent visible and secure presence on this busy principal thoroughfare.
The hotel was robbed of in or around £1,500 on Thursday last in a vicious robbery during which the manager and some of his staff were threatened with a hand gun and forced to open the safe. The gun-wielding attacker fled in the direction of Parnell Street with the video tape from the security camera in his hand.
This robbery only serves to underline the mess this Government is making of the whole law and order issue. The country is facing a seriously escalating crime problem. Statistics show that for the first time indictable crime will go over the 100,000 mark, 3,000 tourists have been robbed in the last 12 months, one in three shops has experienced violent crime, over £10 million has been spent on security equipment to protect personnel and discourage attacks over the last two years, and £11 million has been lost in cash, goods and damaged property from retail outlets. These figures represent only a tiny number of statistics that make for horrendous reading. Despite the fact that we all bear witness to rising crime levels on a daily basis, the damning truth is that the rainbow Coalition Government, by its consistent inactivity, continues to display an alarming indifference to the incidence of crime and a callous disdain for the plight of victims. We must remember the innocent parties to all of this crime, people like the staff of the Royal Dublin Hotel.
The Government has informed the Dáil that it will not introduce any criminal justice legislation during the current session. When action is needed it seems that it is only Fianna Fáil who responds. The Minister plays the publicity game, announcing plans, promises and proposals, but where is the meat? Day after day we witness publicity over substance. Government inactivity is matched by Fianna Fáil activity, and I am not just saying this for publicity's sake. I have introduced many Bills on behalf of Fianna Fáil to highlight and tackle the surging crime wave. These include the Proceeds of Crime Bill, 1995, the Criminal Law (Bail) Bill, 1995, the Sexual Offences (Jurisdiction) Bill, 1995, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill, 1995, the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitutional Bill, 1995 and the Criminal Procedure Bill, 1995. We are preparing policies on vital areas of drugs, security and policing, among many other issues.
At a time when indictable crime has gone over the 100,000 mark for the first time, it is incomprehensible and disgraceful that the Government should decide not to proceed with the building of the Castlerea prison and the proposed new women's prison at Mountjoy. At a swipe 210 prison places are gone. It was only on Thursday last in this House, the day of the announcement of the cuts by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Quinn, that the Minister for Justice confirmed at Question Time that the package of law and order measures would include the provision of prison places. How long a few hours are. The fable that the release of prisoners from Portlaoise would solve the prison place shortage will not wash. We needed the 210 places last week, and we need them this week. The Minister, Deputy Owen, has been left to hang by her Leader, and by the Minister for Finance. Decisions were made in her absence from the Cabinet table. The Government has made a major blunder not just in mismanaging the public finances but by washing its hands of the crime problem which is spiralling out of control.
