Adjournment Debate.

Rail Network.

Dr. Cowley

I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to raise this important matter on the adjournment. We have suffered heavily from the failure of successive Governments to ensure balanced regional development through a failure to invest adequately in infrastructure in the west. Four years have elapsed under the national plan and in the meantime €22.8 billion has been spent in the south and east regions and €8.3 billion in the BMW region. The south and east regions spend represents 92% of what was forecast in the national development plan but the BMW region has achieved only 75% of the projected spend.

The west and north-western part of County Mayo is in serious decline. It is the most socio-economically deprived area of Ireland. Half of Mayo graduates have to go to Dublin for their first job. If the present rate of decline continues north and west Mayo, in a line west of Killala to Newport, will be completely deserted by the end of the century. After generations of party politics in Mayo we do not have the roads, rail, telecommunications and broadband infrastructure needed to make it a competitive area.

If broken promises were infrastructure, we would have all the assets we need to compete with any region of the world. That is why the western rail corridor is so important for Mayo. It is the most important piece of unused infrastructure along the entire west region, a wonderful catalyst for the development of the west. It would open up the entire area from Knock Airport to Shannon Airport right through to Rosslare. This route which closed in 1976 runs from Sligo to Limerick via Galway and Ennis, and passes through Claremorris, Tuam and Athenry. The cost of the Ennis to Claremorris line has been estimated at approximately €170 million, while €365 million would reopen the entire link.

Opening the line from Claremorris, County Mayo, would provide a commuter service to Galway city. Iarnród Éireann estimates that it would take two years to reopen the first section of the line. Once again we are hoping and waiting. We await news, possibly tomorrow, about the future of the western rail corridor. The fear is that Government will be true to form and may well announce opening the southern end of the line but will neglect the western part, Ennis to Sligo, which unfortunately would be par for the course so far as successive Governments are concerned regarding the west.

We need the reopening of the western rail corridor to give us essential railway infrastructure. When one considers the cost of a mile of the Luas route, the western rail corridor makes great economic sense. It would give balanced regional development which helps the congested east coast. It would link in nicely with Knock Airport which needs its €30 million investment to have proper facilities and be competitive and to take some of Dublin's 17 million projected passengers. It would help kick-start the Mayo link which would further open up the county. I hope there will be an announcement soon and that Mayo and its neighbouring counties will not be put on the backburner as usual. This is a plea to put the money up front for the western rail corridor to ensure Mayo will not be the last of the Mohicans as usual but the first to get funding.

Minister for Transport (Mr. Cullen)

I thank Deputy Cowley for raising this issue. Deputies will recall that in June 2004 the then Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, set up the western rail corridor working group under the chairmanship of Mr. Pat McCann, chief executive, Jurys Doyle Hotel Group.

The establishment of the working group was primarily intended to provide a forum where those individuals and organisations who had long been promoting the idea of the western rail corridor could put their arguments directly to the chairman and debate the issues with Iarnród Éireann, CIE, the Department of Transport and all the other interested parties.

Within the past 48 hours I have received from Mr. McCann the report of the chairman of the working group. I thank him and the other members of the group for their work on this process. In the time available I have not had the opportunity to study the report in detail, but it is clear that Mr. McCann has a positive disposition towards the restoration of the western rail corridor; a position that I have always maintained.

The arrival of the report this week is timely as it affords me the opportunity to consider its proposals in the context of the preparation of the multi-annual capital investment framework for transport currently under way within my Department. I have already asked my departmental officials to urgently examine Mr. McCann's report to ensure that it is fully appraised in advance of the finalisation of the framework. It is in that process that decisions will be made on the future of the western rail corridor.

The Deputy refers to the western rail corridor in the context of balanced regional development and I am in agreement with him. The concept of balanced regional development is integral to the core objectives of the national spatial strategy and this Government is fully committed to achieving such development in the west through record capital investment in all sectors but primarily the transport sector. This is particularly the case with regard to investment in public transport infrastructure and services.

Some of the more significant rail projects carried out in the west in recent times or planned for the near future are as follows: the rail infrastructure improvements carried out under the Rail Safety Programme 2000-2004 have upgraded all key rail lines into the west to continuous welded rail on concrete sleepers; a new rail safety programme is currently being rolled out which will include improvements to level crossings, bridges and other track work on all lines; the rail re-signalling project, known as the mini CTC, on the Dublin-Galway line was completed in June 2003 with the immediate effect of significant journey time reductions on services; the Sligo line is on target for completion of its re-signalling project later this year and similar time savings will benefit users of that line; re-signalling work on the Westport and Ballina lines will begin in early 2006 with a completion date of 2007; because of the infrastructure upgrading, Iarnród Éireann is now in a position to concentrate on introducing better timetabling and more frequent services with new improved rolling stock; with the arrival this year of new rolling stock to replace old stock and to expand the fleet, rail passengers in the west can expect to see additional improvements in services; this year Iarnród Éireann expects to take delivery of 36 DMU railcars and most of these are due to be allocated to the Sligo route to replace life-expired rolling stock and to increase frequency and capacity; an order for a fleet of 120 new intercity railcars has been placed by IarnródÉireann. These will enter service from 2007 onwards and will operate on the Galway, Westport and Ballina routes. At that point Iarnród Éireann will be able to provide two-hourly services on the Galway line and increased frequencies on the Westport and Ballina lines.

All these investments testify to this Government's commitment to balanced regional development in the west and to delivering the infrastructure that will make such development a reality.

Mr. McCann' s report will be examined in the context of the Government's record on delivering balanced regional development in the west and as part of the process of finalising the multi-annual investment framework for transport. It is in that process that decisions will be made on the future of the western rail corridor.

Racist Attacks.

Mr. Gormley

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for giving me the opportunity to raise this important matter.

This week, while speaking to constituents in the Portobello area, I was informed about the spraying of racist graffiti on Jewish sites in the area. I took note of the complaint and I hoped to investigate the matter further but yesterday while walking through the same area I was astonished to see graffiti on a house in Bloomfield Avenue, which had been the subject of a previous incident. I was informed the attack had occurred the night previously at approximately 3.30 a.m.and that a number of Jewish landmarks in the Portobello area and beyond had been targeted. Among them was the Jewish Museum on Walworth Road. In most instances a swastika had been sprayed on the wall and sometimes if the culprit had time, an SS sign was added for good measure. We all know that graffiti is unsightly and costs a fair amount of money to remove, but this vandalism has much more sinister undertones. This is naked racism, anti-Semitism and even neo-Nazism raising its head. It simply cannot be tolerated in a civilised and democratic society.

The Garda and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, in whose constituency this took place must take these incidents seriously. I understand this is the third such incident in a short period. It was well planned and calmly executed, probably to coincide with VE day and the liberation of the concentration camps in Nazi Germany. Only recently we heard the moving testimonies of members of the Irish Jewish community who had suffered in the concentration and death camps. Their message for a future generation was clear, we cannot afford to forget the Holocaust or its victims because unless we are vigilant, history could at some time repeat itself. Clearly there is still a small number of deviant individuals who support the racial policies of the Third Reich and it is they, I believe, who were responsible for this anti-Semitic graffiti.

There has been some suggestion that Muslim extremists could have been responsible. However, I do not believe this to be the case. I have spoken to members of the Muslim community and they not only condemn such action but see it as entirely counter-productive to their own cause in Palestine.

My constituents wish to see an end to these incidents. The Portobello area is a beautiful part of Dublin consisting of terraced houses, which used to be a Jewish neighbourhood many years ago. It retains many Jewish landmarks and this gives the area its distinctive appeal. Some people have informed me that neo-Nazi stickers have appeared in the Camden Street area and white supremacist leaflets were also distributed. The rise of racist groups, even if they are a small minority of people, should be a matter of concern for all of us. The Ireland we all grew up in has changed enormously. Ireland and particularly the area around Portobello and the South Circular Road has become multicultural. These immigrants have contributed enormously to our economy and they add to the variety and vibrancy of the locality. The majority of Irish people have welcomed them. It is up to the political leaders to ensure that political racism does not raise its ugly head and gain a foothold in any community. It should be nipped in the bud, as quickly as possible. I am calling on the Minister today to ensure that priority is given to these incidents and that they are not simply ignored as minor incidents and that the perpetrators are brought to justice very quickly.

There is adequate legislation to pursue them and if there is not, I ask the Minister to inform the House of any loopholes in the legislation. These people are guilty of incitement to hatred as well as defacing property. History tells us that the Nazis moved from Kristallnacht to Aryan purity laws to the Holocaust in a short space of time. There can be no complacency about this matter. To ignore these incidents is to ignore the Jewish victims of Nazi terror.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Mr. Callely)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter on the Adjournment. I am deputising this evening for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform who is unable to be present due to other commitments.

The Minister has condemned in the strongest possible terms the disgusting and cowardly vandalism and daubing of Jewish landmarks in south-east Dublin in the past 48 hours. He has sought and received assurances from the Garda Síochána that this disgraceful and anti-Semitic activity will be fully investigated and that the perpetrators, if detected, will be prosecuted with the utmost vigour.

The Minister has spearheaded the Government's drive to combat anti-Semitism by means of the Holocaust memorial day, an event funded by his Department and in which he plays a public role each year. Dublin's Jewish community will receive every protection against this kind of behaviour and the Garda will protect its landmarks as appropriate.

On 10-11 May 2005, the Jewish Museum on Walworth Road, Dublin 8, was vandalised. The Garda at Kevin Street station have commenced an investigation and all resources required by the investigating officers to identify and apprehend the culprits responsible are being made available. Previous similar type incidents of vandalism at the same location have occurred during the past six months and are the subject of ongoing investigation by the Garda Síochána. All patrolling gardaí from Kevin Street station are devoting extra attention to the area with a view to bringing about a cessation of these acts of vandalism.

The manifestations of such a mentality must be dealt with in legislation.

The Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 created an offence of publishing or distributing material or using words or behaviour that are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or are likely to stir up hatred. I understand the Act is working well. "Hatred" is defined as hatred against a group of persons in the State or elsewhere on account of their race, colour, nationality, religion, ethnic or national origins, membership of the Travelling community or sexual orientation. Public incitement to racial hatred is a criminal offence under sections 2 and 3 of the Act in terms of material, written or oral, which is threatening, abusive or insulting.

The Garda authorities, conscious of the importance of the recording and monitoring of incidents that are motivated by anti-Semitism, racism, sectarianism, homophobia and xenophobia have, since October 2002, through the Garda PULSE computer system, put in place a mechanism to record and gather information on racist incidents and offenders nationwide. Furthermore, the Garda racial and intercultural office, which was established in 2001, co-ordinates, monitors and advises on all aspects of policing in the area of ethnic and cultural diversity. Personnel in that office monitor all incidents to ensure the PULSE system accurately records all such offences. Where such incidents occur, the Garda Síochána ensures that an investigation is pursued with reference mainly to the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 and the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989, these being the main relevant legislative instruments pertaining to crime of this type.

More generally, and underpinning the Government's commitment to accommodate and respect cultural diversity in Ireland, the Government published its national action plan against racism in January. The overall aim of the plan is to provide strategic direction to combat racism and to develop a more inclusive, intercultural society in Ireland based on commitment to inclusion by design, not as an add-on or an afterthought, and based on policies that promote interaction, equality of opportunity, understanding and respect. The steering group monitoring the implementation of the action plan is looking at protection issues, protection being one of the five pillars of the plan. The first meeting of the group takes place next week and I am sure it will consider these sinister developments in light of its ongoing work.

One of the key objectives of the plan is to provide effective protection and redress against racism, including a focus on discrimination, threatening behaviour and incitement to hatred. Clearly the Garda Síochána has a very important role in this and it has done considerable work, including the establishment of the Garda racial and intercultural office, the appointment of 145 ethnic liaison gardaí and the development of training methods for policing a more diverse society.

The local community and ethnic liaison officer for the Portobello area is attached to Kevin Street Garda station. He is assisted by the dedicated officer for the St. Kevin's neighbourhood watch area, which was established in 1987. The duties of this dedicated officer include attendance at monthly meetings with members of the neighbourhood watch scheme. The Minister has been informed by the Garda authorities that all patrolling gardaí in the area are devoting extra special attention to the area concerned with a view to bringing about a cessation of these incidents of vandalism. We all wish the Garda success in this regard.

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, will not tolerate attacks on members of minorities in our society, and the same is true for all Members of this House, including me. Our society has no place for people who carry out this type of crime. Graffiti writers, when apprehended, are arrested and charged under the Criminal Damage Act 1991.

Irish Prison Service.

Mr. Costello

I refer to the motion on the Adjournment raised by Deputy Gormley, with which I entirely agree. Three weeks ago in the Kevin Street area, an attack occurred on a young gay man who is still in a coma and subsequent attacks on members of the gay community have occurred within that jurisdiction. It is possible that a particular group is involved in racism and attacks on the gay community. It would be worthwhile for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to investigate the matter.

The crisis in the prison system is out of control and I cannot remember when we last had such a crisis. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform was appointed three years ago, which is the same length of time that we have had an industrial dispute concerning overtime for prison officers. Only two weeks ago the prison officers voted by two to one to reject the offer that was made, largely because of the attitude of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and his megaphone diplomacy, but also because the offer made was very inflexible, which could have been remedied if it had been presented in a proper fashion.

For the past three years the Minister has been trying to save €60 million. In that time he has created mayhem and chaos, and the Irish Prison Service is out of control as a result of his action. He has closed down three prisons, Fort Mitchel in Spike Island, the Curragh Prison and Shanganagh Castle. They have all been lying idle in mothballs for 18 months, with 300 to 400 prison spaces, which otherwise could have been used. At the same time the Minister has paid ten times the market value for land in north County Dublin for a proposed prison to replace Mountjoy.

In the meantime in his reports of this year and last year the inspector of prisons slated the quality of the prison system. He described the appalling conditions that operate in Irish prisons to the extent that he has called for the closure not only of Mountjoy, but also of Limerick and Cork prisons. The overcrowding in Cork Prison is such that it contains double the number of prisoners that it should. Every prison is overcrowded because of the Minister's policy of closing down prisons. He now proposes going a step further to punish prison officers for rejecting his inflexible offer and his megaphone diplomacy by privatising the prison escort service, as proposed in a Bill just published. This is outrageous behaviour. He now proposes to close down two more prisons, Shelton Abbey and Loughan House, and turn them into private institutions requiring more people to be recruited and paid.

The Minister is presiding over a Prison Service that is out of control. His ego has decided that city hall will not be defeated, which is his attitude to prison staff. This represents a red rag to a bull. Instead of engaging in diplomacy in industrial relations he is using confrontation. The Minister should get a grip of himself and recognise that he is more than half way through his term in office. Throughout those three years we have had a crisis in the prison service. We again have a revolving door system, with prisoners being released early because of lack of places for them. Prison services such as education cannot proceed because of doubling up in most cells. This means that we have a worse prison service than we had in the last century, which is reflected in the recently published report of the inspector of prisons, Dermot Kinlen.

While I hope I will not need to raise this issue again, I fear I will need to do so. I would not be surprised if by the time the Government reaches the end of its term of office, in addition to the three prisons the Minister has already closed down and the two he is about to close, one or two more are closed down. He frequently claims to be doing wonderful things to modernise the Prison Service when in reality he is putting it back to the Stone Age.

Mr. Callely

I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and I will ask my colleague, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, to take on board his concern regarding attacks on members of the gay community and pursue the matter with his officials.

The Deputy referred to a three-year crisis in the prison system. There has been no three-year crisis in the Prison Service. Indeed, since taking office, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, has overseen significant positive developments in it. New prison accommodation has been completed in Limerick and work is under way at Portlaoise. Despite Deputy Costello's objection, the Minister is going ahead with his project to replace Mountjoy Prison with a new and modern prison complex in north County Dublin. Deputy Costello's preference to have the current Mountjoy Prison refurbished would cost in the region of €418 million.

Mr. Costello

He has paid that ten times over already.

An Ceann Comhairle

Allow the Minister of State to continue. His time is limited.

Mr. Callely

A site for a new prison campus to replace the Mountjoy complex has been purchased. Deputy McDowell is also planning to build a new southern prison at Spike Island to replace the antiquated Cork Prison. Furthermore, work is under way to complete the introduction of humane special observation cells in all prisons, doing away with the former practice of distressed prisoners being kept in padded cells. The Minister will publish new prison rules in the coming weeks which will allow for mandatory drug testing and the enforcement of drug-free prisons.

Furthermore, there is no question of the Minister having any personal dispute with prison officers. The Minister, Deputy McDowell, and I have the height of admiration and respect for the dedication and commitment of prison officers in the delivery of their very challenging duties. It has long been recognised that the huge levels of expenditure on overtime in prisons are not sustainable and must be reduced. Unfortunately, when the Labour Party was last in government, it did absolutely nothing to tackle this problem, which diverts much-needed funds from important projects such as prisoner rehabilitation programmes and an accelerated prisons building programme.

Since the Minister took office in 2002, he has allowed ample space and time for a mutually acceptable negotiated settlement to be reached between the Irish Prison Service and the Prison Officers Association. Following the rejection of the earlier offer in October 2003, he agreed to use the full range of industrial relations machinery available in the State, including the conciliation services of the Labour Relations Commission and the ultimate arbitration facilities of the Civil Service Arbitration Board. That process continued over a 16-month period and involved long and difficult negotiations, leading to a substantial arbitration award recommendation. The deal included an 8% pensionable arbitration allowance and the payment of a lump sum of €13,750.

Unfortunately, the members of the Prison Officers Association did not follow the recommendation of their own executive and decided to reject the proposal for organisational change in the Prison Service. It must be clearly understood that no Minister can be in the business of renegotiating a proposal for organisational change which has already been arbitrated upon by the Civil Service Arbitration Board — perhaps Deputy Costello thinks that he should.

Mr. Costello

He could have made it far more flexible.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy, please allow the Minister of State to continue.

Mr. Callely

I gather that he would not do so either. Anyone who believes that there is another forum beyond the Civil Service Arbitration Board where something extra may be gained is not living in the real world. We cannot compromise the integrity of the whole industrial relations process, which has served us so well and must continue to serve our public services in future. As the Deputy knows, the arbitration process is the end of the line.

The Minister has never made a secret of the consequences of failure to reach an agreement, and he was left with no option but to proceed immediately with the agenda approved by the Government to ensure that the Prison Service is run as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. That agenda is now in place and steps to implement it are under way.

Both the Curragh and Fort Mitchel places of detention are closed and will not reopen.

Mr. Costello

That is a disgrace.

Mr. Callely

The staff that remained in those institutions following their mothballing last year have been notified of their transfer to other institutions and arrangements are well advanced for the permanent redeployment of all staff temporarily reassigned from the Curragh and Fort Mitchel.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Minister's time is concluded.

Mr. Callely

The two Prison Service open centres at Loughan House and Shelton Abbey will close, one in October and the other in November 2005. It is important to record that the Minister intends to replace them with open centres for persons on temporary or early release from prison, and they will be managed and operated outside the Irish Prison Service. He plans to expand the new open centres by up to 50%. Staff serving in those institutions will be redeployed permanently at that time to other institutions.

As I am out of time, might the rest of my speech be recorded in the Official Report?

An Ceann Comhairle

No, that is possible only with questions, not matters on the Adjournment.

Mr. Callely

In that case, I will be happy to provide more detail to Deputy Costello should he so wish.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.15 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Tuesday, 17 May 2005.

Dáil Éireann debate - Thursday, 12 May 2005