I understand the Minister proposes to reply to the questions together and I will call on the Deputies in the order in which they submitted their question.
Private Notice Questions. - Escalation in Violent Crime.
asked the Minister for Justice if she will make a statement to the House regarding the seriously escalating crime wave that is now swamping the country.
asked the Minister for Justice, in view of the urgent public concern regarding the escalation of violent crimes against the person, notably against women and elderly citizens, if she would make a statement and indicate the proposals, if any, she has to counter the incidence of armed gangs preying on vulnerable elderly people in rural areas.
On a point of order, Sir, you have indicated that the Minister will answer both matters together but, out of respect for the two dead persons and their relatives, I suggest that we deal with each category separately.
Before calling the Minister for Justice I wish to advise Deputies that they should limit their supplementary questions to matters which they have been advised are in order, namely the matters in the question, and should avoid expanding into general issues.
All in this House share with the public a deep sorrow and concern for those people who have been so viciously attacked or murdered and for their families, relatives and friends. We feel a profound repugnance for the sort of person who would contemplate such acts of savagery, let alone carry them out. While we are shocked by these acts, it would be dangerously naive to hold out the pretence that there are single solutions or actions and it would underestimate the complexity of crime and its roots in our society if the only messages from this House were demands for simple, single solutions. The matter is of such a serious nature that we should not allow ourselves to become caught up in some political game and lay blame on any aspect of our society.
Major criminal occurrences, not just now but also in the past, have generated public concern. It is right and understandable that they should do so. It is also right and understandable that we should share the concern that is reflected both inside and outside this House. We have been hit by the appalling tragedies in the past 24 hours involving the deaths, apparently through violence, of three people in different parts of the country.
On behalf of the Government and on my own behalf, I extend deepest sympathy to the relatives and friends of the people who have been killed in such a way. It is part of our duty also to see to it that no effort will be spared in finding the culprits of these heinous crimes and ensuring that the due process is applied to them, which they have savagely and callously denied to their victims. I have been in consultation with the Garda Commissioner and senior members of his management team this morning and I assure the House that they have assured me that no effort is being spared, or will be spared, in bringing those guilty to justice. A tactical deployment team of gardaí was already in preparation before the most recent crimes and this will be in place very shortly to confront criminal activities in rural Ireland. Members will understand that I cannot go into detail of what exactly that tactical deployment involves, for the very obvious reason of not giving the same information to those who have been carrying out these crimes. The Garda authorities have assured me they are satisfied all the necessary resources in this regard are available to them.
Inevitably in such inquiries, the Garda must and will rely to a great extent on information provided by the public. The House is aware of the traditional high level of co-operation between the public and the Garda in the investigation of crime. I am sure all Members wish that type of co-operation to continue and join me in appealing to the public, who have any information which might be helpful to the Garda in the investigation of these offences, to come forward as quickly as possible.
The availability of such co-operation and information has already led to the arrest of a number of people for some of the crimes of this nature which have been committed and others are under investigation by the Garda. People known to have been involved in this type of crime are being sought. As public representatives, it is also our duty, and my duty in particular as Minister for Justice, in dealing with the issue of crime to ensure our facts are correct. Without this, we have no real prospect of tackling the problems we face. Former Ministers for Justice will recognise the validity of my comments. They said it themselves, and correctly so, when faced with similar crime situations.
Provisional crime figures indicate that crime increased by 1 per cent in 1995. In this regard the increase in crime follows on from successive increases recorded since 1990. However, it is important to note that offences against the person, such as murder, sexual offences and assault, make up a small fraction of overall crime. For example, in 1994, the last year for which complete figures have been published, there were 1,327 offences against the person from a total of 101,036 indictable offences recorded.
Certain crime trends are a cause for a great deal of concern. For example, an upward trend in the level of reported sexual crimes has been evident for a number of years. Reports of rapes doubled in the period 1990 to 1994 and there was an increase of 25 per cent for the period January to November 1995. On the other hand, the commission of serious crime involving the use of firearms decreased overall in 1993 and 1994. This downward trend continued in 1995. The overall trend with regard to such crimes is welcome in the sense that the figures are decreasing.
Regarding attacks on the elderly, it is useful to put the current position in context, although this in no way takes from the horror we experience at the recent spate of this type of crime. It should be noted that there were 432 attacks in 1984 where the injured party was 65 years of age or over, living alone in a remote area and some form of confrontation took place. Following determined action taken by the Garda at that time to deal with this problem, the number of attacks decreased significantly in subsequent years.
For example, by 1988, 118 attacks of this nature were recorded by the Garda. This figure continued to fall in the following years. There were 66 attacks in 1991 and 1992. By 1993, this figure began to increase slightly to 80 attacks. In 1994 there was once again a reduction to 69 attacks. I understand the 1995 figure, which is not available yet, will show an increase on the 1994 figure, particularly over the final part of the year.
Having provided the facts about crimes against the elderly, I will provide other facts relevant to the questions raised today. The capacity of prisons needs to be increased and I never denied that fact since becoming Minister for Justice. There is space for approximately 2,200 offenders at present and more capacity is required. Within a short time — a matter of weeks rather than months — I will bring my proposals to Government which are designed to increase prison capacity within the shortest possible time frame. The problem has been growing for years and all the options needed to be examined, not just those for new buildings which would provide places in two or three years when places are required now. I have completed my examination of all the options and the capital injection in the budget yesterday of £3.7 million will be used to maximum benefit. I will bring my proposals to Government without delay.
More judges and a modern system of operation of the courts are required. The enactment of the Court and Court Officers Act has taken action in that regard. Other elements of that legislation are now in place, such as the membership of the Judicial Appointments Board and the Courts Commission, which I established under Mrs. Justice Susan Denham. They are working vigorously at their tasks, making recommendations for changes in the operation of the courts.
Law reform is required to match the need caused by the changing nature of crime. I stress the following point in case the public thinks the only way crime can be tackled is to continue introducing a plethora of legislation. The House is aware that a vast range of criminal law is already on the Statute Book. This is successfully used daily in the investigation of crimes and bringing the perpetrators to justice. However, the Government also recognises that more can be done in this regard. This is why, since becoming Minister, a major progress of criminal law reform has been under way in my Department. I believe a wide range of new criminal justice measures will be placed on the Statute Book this year and that the vast amount of ongoing preparatory work in my Department will bear fruit. I can provide more details if the Houses wishes.
It would be wrong to pretend that extra places, extra judges or any form of law reform will eliminate all serious criminal activity. I wish that were so, but we know that would not be the case. It would be misleading in the extreme if I said any of the appalling crimes which have become known in the past 24 hours and in recent months would have been prevented necessarily by any of these measures. At this point we do not know and in the absence of actual knowledge we should not seek to confuse the broad issue of response to crime and crime prevention generally with the question of preventing the three recent deaths, which have left families bereaved and shocked and communities saddened.
While it is difficult in the aftermath of any tragedy of this nature to try to dispel the sense of fear and hopelessness it engenders for those who are most vulnerable, it is our positive duty, and mine in particular, to do so. It is wrong in the extreme — former Ministers for Justice made this point previously following similar spates of crime — to add needlessly to fear at such a time. We owe it to the public to point out that people can take sensible measures themselves in conjunction with local organisations and the Garda. By pointing out that people can take measures, I am not diminishing my responsibility or that of any other person. I hope people will accept my comments are realistic.
Unfortunately, one of the most hideous aspects of attacks on the elderly, particularly in rural areas, is that the aftermath creates a climate and fear, particularly among elderly people living alone. Attacks of the nature of those which occurred recently, more than most other crimes, have indirect as well as direct victims. Thankfully, there is an acceptance by local communities in rural areas that they have a part to play. Hence the great success of the Community Alert System.
I recently received deputations from representatives of Muintir na Tíre, the IFA and the ICMSA and a medi-alert scheme was suggested. I am already holding consultations with other Ministers to examine whether this type of scheme can be implemented for people of a certain age living alone or in isolated areas. I also welcome the burglar alarm scheme introduced in the budget yesterday. While it does not diminish the seriousness of the present situation, there was a spate of similar attacks in the past. The Garda gave priority to it and that is one of the main reasons the criminals were apprehended and the attacks brought to an end. In his report to me today the Commissioner assured me the Garda are giving this matter high priority. I am confident their proposals and mechanisms will be successful and that they will have the support of all right-thinking people for the sustained and comprehensive manner in which they undertake them. The message must go out to those who commit these crimes that they will be caught and punished in a way that shows our repugnance of their crimes.
I offer my sympathy and that of Fianna Fáil to the families, friends and communities of those who were so brutally murdered in recent days. I greatly resent any suggestion or implication by the Minister that there is a political motivation behind putting this honest question before the House today. That is a gross insult which is beneath contempt.
I did not say that.
No interruptions, please. There must be the same order for the Deputy in possession as obtained for the Minister.
It is the duty of every public representative irrespective of his or her political persuasion to raise matters as serious as this in the House elected by the people. To do otherwise would be a negation of duty.
From the Minister's figures, it would appear that a further 1 per cent increase in indictable offences in 1995 means that in excess of 102,000 indictable offences were committed in 1995. Does the Minister agree that the backlog of murder and rape cases in the Central Criminal Court where a trial date has not been set for in excess of 24 murder cases contributes to the public perception that people can literally get away with murder? The next list to fix dates for trials in the Central Criminal Court will be on 21 March. There are 24 murder cases and 54 rape cases awaiting trial dates. Only one or two judges are available to hear those cases. Does the Minister agree there is a serious obligation on her to rectify that matter? Not only does it give such a perception to the public but it clearly sends out the wrong message to hardened criminals.
I agree that the backlog is unacceptable and that is why I introduced the Court and Court Officers Bill. I trust Members accept it was wrong to allow it build up over the years. It did not happen just last year.
The Minister did not want to introduce the Bill but we pushed her into doing so.
This is an extraordinarily serious matter.
The Minister wanted to leave it on the long finger.
I did not. The Deputy should not forget the efforts made by Fianna Fáil to get this legislation.
Let us hear the Minister.
It is a fact. The Minister's party wanted us to take only one section.
It was to appoint judges.
We are in the process of appointing additional judges. As soon as they are appointed they will tackle the backlog of cases. That is partly the reason I brought the Court and Court Officers Bill back before the House. I have told Deputy O'Donoghue many times that at least 12 other measures in that legislation will speed up the procedures which solicitors, barristers and others associated with the courts take so much time to complete in the pre-trial stage. When that legislation impinges on the work of the court we will see a reduction in the backlog.
I accept what the Deputy said. It is wrong that there should be such delays in hearing cases but priority is given to criminal matters. That is why, in some instances, there are delays of up to three and four years in hearing civil matters.
I join in the condolences offered by the Minister and Deputy O'Donoghue to the bereaved families and to the families of those who are still missing. The Minister stated there were 69 attacks on elderly people in 1994 and it is anticipated that figure will be higher for 1995. What specific evidence have the Garda to link any or all of these attacks with a person or persons on temporary release or categorised as "unlawfully at large" of which there are over 1,000? If there is evidence of a link between an offender absconding from an open institution and his or her involvement in an attack on elderly people, what steps have the Garda taken to recapture this person or these persons without warrant, which is permissible under the Act?
What has been the Garda operational dividend from the ceasefire? How many gardaí were redeployed from Border areas to deal with escalating crime against vulnerable old people in rural areas? Is it possible that the Government's only response is to give them tax relief if they install a burglar alarm? When those alarms go off will they be heard in the Garda station or by sheep? Is that the Government's only response to such crime?
In spite of the Minister's and the Commissioner's mututal assurances, is she unaware of the community's lack of confidence in the capacity of the Garda to deal with such crime?
I cannot tell the Deputy if any of those arrested for some of the crimes committed are on temporary release because investigations are ongoing. Any prisoner on temporary release caught committing a crime can be arrested immediately. There is no evidence available to me — I asked the Garda for this — that any of the people they suspect of committing these crimes are on temporary or early release.
Or are unlawfully at large.
I will not know who the people are until they are captured. That category consists of people who were on temporary release over the last four or five years and did not return to complete their sentences. I am precluded from going into too much detail on Garda operations and how they apprehend criminals. Nobody has been brought to court for these crimes but those suspected of committing them were apprehended as they attempted to leave the country.
The Deputy asked about the number of gardaí who have been deployed from Border areas. I do not have that information as the question did not deal with that issue. However, since the ceasefire, the deployment of gardaí to Border counties has virtually ceased. Recruits from Templemore who heretofore would have been sent to the Border regions are now deployed in other areas.
The Deputy asked whether I am satisfied that the Garda will be able to tackle these crimes. The Garda have informed me they are deploying a tactical force to rural Ireland which is targeted to respond to the crimes committed. I will not go into detail on where that force will operate from day to day, but it is important that it operates effectively. As a result of good intelligence to the Garda a number of people have been arrested on their way to commit crimes. It is not acceptable to create the impression that the Garda are helpless and that nothing has been happening. Some people are under surveillance with a view to their arrest, some have been arrested and others have been stopped on their way to commit crimes.
I remind the Minister that we had to raise the question of the Courts and Court Officers Bill over a long period in the House to have it introduced. Is the Minister in tune with the depth of public concern about crime? It appears not. From the published Estimates for her Department for 1996 the Garda received only a marginal increase, about the equivalent of inflation. Does the Minister believe such an increase is appropriate in the light of escalating crime? Will she agree that the current liberal bail laws contribute to the present murder epidemic since a person arrested today for the crime of murder, the most serious crime one can commit, is unlikely to get a trial date before late 1997 and remains at liberty until then?
I am not suggesting there is a single solution to this problem but I have a responsibility to remind the Minister that it is her duty to do everything possible to minimise or resolve the problem. In the last year she did not introduce one Bill to tackle crime. I suggest it is time she ended her clear belief that invisibility is the best from of transparency.
I assure the House that I am fully in tune with the depth of concern and alarm at the crimes committed in our community. I probably have more access than any other Member to information on the alarm and concern expressed by the public. I met many deputations and am well aware of the extent of alarm at this problem. I have taken numerous actions to bring about the necessary changes in operational matters in the Department and in terms of the Garda. The Deputy may think it is useful to describe in colourful expressions my action — or inaction as he perceives it — but such criticism of me does not solve the problem. I know what I am doing and the steps I have taken have had a dramatic effect on crime.
What are they?
The drugs problem has existed for a few years, and there is no point in pretending otherwise. I am putting in place measures in our prisons that, I hope, will give drug addicts who end up there a chance of rehabilitation so that they will not commit further crime when they are released. Deputies need have no fear that I am ill-informed or not in tune with the problems.
I think Deputy O'Donoghue is aware of my views on bail. The Law Reform Commission, at the request of the Deputy's party in Government, prepared an extensive report which I received in early October and I am finalising proposals in that regard. In putting a referendum to the people — if that is the Government's decision — places must be available for those who are remanded without the right to bail. There is no point in bringing in a system that will not work. We must be practical about this matter. If a referendum on bail were held tomorrow Deputies would stop asking me questions, but it would make no difference to the system unless places are available for those to whom judges refuse bail. There is no point in Deputies shaking their heads and waving their hands. As I stated on many occasions during Question Time, prison places must be available to provide for an effective bail system. Deputies can be assured that when I am ready, I will bring my proposals to Government.
As the Taoiseach said to Deputy O'Donoghue this morning, he has put a great deal of effort into preparing legislation. I accepted a Bill introduced by him and Deputy Eoin Ryan. It was slightly mischievous of him this morning to imply that since I accepted that Bill I should accept others. In accepting that Bill in principle — I could not disagree with it — I pointed out at least seven or eight issues that would have to be amended. I have not seen the Deputy's new Bill but he can be assured I will consider elements of it for inclusion in legislation that I will introduce on drug trafficking.
I remind the House of the legislation that is available for use in serious drug related crimes: the Misuse of Drugs Act, 1977-84; the Misuse of Drugs Regulation; the Criminal Justice Act, 1984; the Customs (Consolidation) Act, 1876, the Customs Act, 1956, and the Customs and Excise Act, 1988. The impression is given outside this House that the crime problem may be tackled by the volume of legislation enacted, but it is not necessarily tackled by making public announcements about legislation. There are about 12 Bills in preparation in my Department, which will be published as soon as they have been properly scrutinised and prepared, and they will add to, rather than detract from the corpus of legislation available to fight crime.
This matter has gone on for an inordinately long time and I must soon bring it to a conclusion. We should have brevity at this stage.
I hope I will be more successful this time in eliciting information. Will the Minister say how many women are missing in suspicious circumstances? Has she information to suggest there may be a serial killer, particularly of women, at large? Are the Minister and the Garda Commissioner happy that sufficient manpower resources are being deployed in the wake of the sad murders of Marlyn Rynn and Joyce Quinn? Josephine Dollard has been missing since 10 November last, Fiona Davis since 21 July, Margaret Glennon since 22 May. The list goes on. Are sufficient Garda resources being deployed on those investigations?
How can this Government persist in claiming to place crime at the top of its agenda yet place it last in its budgetary choices this week? Does the Minister agree with the Taoiseach that this Government is ruminating on the root causes of crime? Does the Minister not agree with me that effective law and order must not await this worthy analysis of the root causes of crime?
In regard to the Minister's failure to answer a specific question about the suspected link between attacks on elderly people in rural areas and a person who absconded from Loughan House, is she aware of a Garda report to the effect that there is such a link or is she formally denying that?
I can anticipate Deputy O'Donnell's reaction but it is wrong to heighten in any way the sorrow and sadness of those who have already lost female family members through murder or who remain missing by implying that somehow there is a serial killer out there. I have no evidence of that, nor does Deputy O'Donnell or the Garda. I suggest that such emotive terms should be avoided, which is why I endeavoured to use temperate language in this debate. There is no such evidence and to imply there is by posing such a question is wrong.
Perhaps the reason so many young people are involved in crime, is that successive Ministers for Justice failed to do what I am endeavouring to do — to tackle the root causes of crime and examine it in a much broader manner than has been done for years. There is no point in Members opposite shaking their heads; they know that to be the case. The young people now in our prisons needed help when aged five, six or seven. The youngsters of today who will be 18 and 19 year olds in ten years time and the communities within which they live also need help, particularly families whose members may already be engaging in criminal activity. That is what the experts, the people working on the ground with these people, tell me.
The House will realise that I am combining my activities with immediate action and responses, while at the same time endeavouring to ensure that some future Minister for Justice ten years hence will not have to stand up here and ask why the Minister for Justice in 1996 did not recognise that this 16-year-old killing or beating people over the head was in need of help then.
It is unforgiveable of Deputy O'Donnell — who knows more about this issue than many other Members of the House — to appear to minimise the importance of getting to the root causes of crime. For the past two weeks we have listened to lectures about public expenditure. This Government is giving law and order top priority, accompanied by the largest ever budget being given the Garda this year, including a provision of £14 million for overtime.
Instead of legislation.
I am satisfied from my direct contacts with the most senior member of the Garda Síochána, the Commissioner — who has responsibility for deploying the force and spending the money voted for that purpose — that every resource is being made available to find the perpetrators of these murders and the missing women.
I might inform the House of the current toll of missing women going back some years. In 1992 12 women went missing, three in suspicious circumstances; one was subsequently found murdered and the cases of two others are outstanding, which means that the remainder of those 12 are women who appear to have gone missing for their own reasons. In 1993 four women went missing, two of whom were the subject of high profile investigation, Annie McCarrick and Michelle McCormack. In 1994 four women went missing, none in suspicious circumstances. In 1995 three women went missing; the case of one, Josephine Dollard, who has not yet been found, is under active investigation. An average of five or six women annually go missing, not all in suspicious circumstances. I met the Dollard family, her sisters and brother-in-law the day before yesterday and they are satisfied with the Garda resources being deployed on investigating her case. I asked them whether there was anything more they thought the Garda could do to assist them finding her. They replied that they are extremely satisfied with the co-operation they have been receiving from the Garda and reassured me that every bit of information they receive by telephone or word of mouth is passed on to the Garda and followed up fully. I might add that very large numbers of gardaí are following up the Dollard case. This morning, following the most recent tragic murder, a very large force of gardaí was brought in immediately. There is no question of there being any delay on the part of the Garda in responding to these appalling crimes. The Garda move in resources instantly when required. The public will know that, in order to do so, they may well have to take members from other parts of a division but I consider that a reasonable price to pay to get to the root of these awful crimes.
I put it to the Minister that it is a bit rich of her to place the blame for current levels on her predecessors——
It is a bit rich to listen to the Deputy opposite when his party was in Government for eight years and did nothing.
——when she presided over the cancellation of prisons for which provision had been made by the leader of my party when Minister for Finance. Clearly she is out of touch with the gravity of the overall position. I put it to her that Fianna Fáil has been as constructive as it possibly could be in relation to this issue since going into Opposition and that she should show some degree of respect for and co-operation with us in tackling the problem. As a measure of this respect and co-operation, will she consider allocating Government time to the Fianna Fáil Criminal Procedure Bill, 1995 which proposes the abolition of the present wasteful District Court preliminary examinations procedure and its replacement with a fast-track trial system which will guarantee a trial within 90 days of arrest——
The Deputy is veering beyond that which was deemed to be in order.
From what I hear from the Minister's backbenchers, it would appear that not alone is she completely out of touch with the depth of people's feelings and concerns in relation to this matter but that the same is true of her backbenchers.
They had the same concerns five months ago.
I do not know how much more simply I can put it to Deputy O'Donoghue that I am well aware and deeply concerned about the prevalence of crime in our society. Frankly, I do not need any reminders from Deputy O'Donoghue. Does he think I am blind, deaf and dumb and do not know what is going on out there?
Inactive.
Deputy O'Donoghue insists on not understanding plain English. I must reiterate that the programme for Castlerea and the women's prison was deferred, not cancelled. It is blatantly dishonest of him to continue to use the word "cancelled" when that was not the term used in the Government statement. I will deliver on anything to which I have given a commitment here today by bringing my proposals to Government in a very short time. I hope at that time he will support them. The Deputies opposite talk about the need to curtail public spending and their spokesperson on finance criticised the Government for too much public spending. It is not possible to have it both ways, except when in opposition.
They are priorities in Government.
The provision of prison places requires prioritising. Deputy Ahern knows only too well that when I took over the portfolio of Justice the number of temporary releases in our prisons was running at approximately 500. Building a prison is one element of the solution but providing places now is another.
That is why we decided to proceed.
I am glad Deputy Ahern has the good grace to nod in agreement. When he sees my proposals he will have to swallow his words.
The Minister has had 15 months to do something about that problem.
The Deputies opposite are making a political football out of this.
That concludes questions for today.