Over the weekend, a popular young Dún Laoghaire man, Mr. Mark Bryan, was slaughtered by a car driven by a 20 year old thief out on bail who was driving on the wrong side of the Lucan bypass. A few weeks earlier, a father of four working in his hackney car, Mr. Derek Hall, Tallaght, was also tragically slaughtered by a similar stolen car. Over recent years, as the Minister knows, approximately nine people have been killed in Cork city. My constituency has been plagued with the problem. There have been several near misses and people are asking when the next fatality will occur.
I read the response in today's Irish Independent of the Garda Commissioner, Mr. Pat Byrne, who rightly emphasised the issues of safety and the use of a helicopter and a stinger, but that response is not good enough. It is not good enough for the Bryan and Hall families, the families who lost loved ones in Cork or in my constituents who live in terror three or four nights a week. That response is one of the reasons I have asked for an independent audit of our crime statistics. In relation to joyriding, for example, if the 400 or 500 members of the travelling public who are affected by this crime on a nightly basis reported these cases – the majority of them do not – our crime statistics would be higher. Perhaps the Commissioner would take this matter seriously.
This is about the eighth occasion I have raised this problem in the Dáil – I raised it four or five times with the Taoiseach on the Order of Business – and the third time I have raised it on the Adjournment, yet the problem remains. I commend Assistant Garda Commissioner McHugh who, in response to my previous request, helped to set up a joyriding task force for the Dublin north-east area comprising the local authority, public representatives, the gardaí and local people. That is an initiative but public representatives have not been kept informed of meetings. The Minister, Deputy O'Donoghue, also has responsibility in this area. A few weeks ago Deputy Shortall was thrown out of the House when she demanded that the juvenile justice Bill, which has been on the stocks for the last four years, be passed. That Bill emphasises victim support and restorative justice and would be a welcome addition to the legislation available to the Garda.
The Labour Party is willing to support amendments to the Road Traffic Act, 1994, if it is not strong enough and if the Garda Commissioner needs additional powers. More Garda resources are needed in the worst affected areas in north Cork and Dublin city. The J and R districts of north-east Dublin need another 50 or 60 gardaí. These resources should be made available in a manner similar to that used to tackle the drugs problem.
We should expand the task force idea to the south side of Dublin, Cork city and other affected areas. Most of all we need an education and information campaign targeted at young people. The Minister, Deputy McCreevy, recently gave the Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation, Deputy McDaid, about £14 million for the youth projects under the sports capital programme. That is about 25 per cent of the money needed. I could spend £2 million in my constituency. The money allocated is not enough when we consider what needs to be done. My task force area is pro posing to set up a car education and young driver training course similar to those introduced some years ago when this problem first plagued us. These courses try to involve some of the young people in responsible careers in driving after they have completed their punishment, if that is what they desire. This needs support from the Department of Finance.
This is a serious problem. What happened to the families in Tallaght and Dun Laoghaire is outrageous. I urge the Ministers for Finance and Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Garda Commissioner to take the problem seriously and try to solve it once and for all.
