Vol. 618 No. 3
1 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps he intends to take to tackle the alarming rise in crime figures for the first quarter of 2006; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15877/06]
2 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform his views on the 7% increase in the yearly headline crime figures published on 13 April 2006 and the 8% increase in the quarterly figures; his views in particular on the substantial increase in the number of murders; the action he intends to take arising from the increase in the number of serious crimes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15879/06]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 and 2, together.
Since I took the decision to publish crime statistics on a quarterly basis at the beginning of 2003, I have consistently emphasised that care must be taken in interpreting the statistics, especially when considering short term fluctuations or extrapolating trends over short periods. I have emphasised this both when the level of crime has decreased, as it has in the majority of quarters since 2003, and when it has increased, as it did in the last quarter.
First, I wish to refer to the long-term crime trends. The level of headline crime in 2005 was actually lower than that for 2003 by 1.6% and for 2002 by 4.4%. Furthermore in 1995, when we had a population of almost 3.6 million, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population, while in 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population — 15% of crimes less per 1,000 of the population in 2005 compared with 1995. To put this in context, during the two full years of the rainbow coalition Government, with a population of 600,000 fewer than at present, the headline crime figures were as follows: 1995 — 102,484; 1996 — 100,785, a rate of over 500,000 crimes for a five year Government at a time when our population was much lower than now.
The figures for the first quarter of 2006 paint a mixed picture. Of the 25 headline offence categories, 13 showed decreases and 12 recorded increases. Furthermore, there was an increase of 8% in the overall figure for the quarter compared with one year previously. This increase is less than that for the last quarter of 2005, when it was 10%.
Crimes against property account for the majority of the increase in headline crime for the first quarter. I have been advised by the Garda Commissioner that he has instructed the regional Garda commissioners and divisional chief superintendents to devise and implement strategies in their areas to target, track down and bring to justice persistent offenders. Furthermore, I have made available a further €10 million to the Garda Commissioner for special Garda operations tackling specific forms of crime including burglaries and other offences.
Murder and manslaughter is up by three in the first quarter, from a total of nine to 12.
It has gone from seven to 12.
No. One of the problems is that homicide offences had risen but this term includes verbal threats to kill. While no level of murder is acceptable, I would advise the Deputies that Ireland has one of the lowest murder rates in the western world. For example, the homicide rate in Glasgow, a city of comparable size to Dublin, is 5.5 per 100,000 of the population. The comparable figure for Dublin in 2005 is 1.7 per 100,000 of the population. Deputies Howlin and O'Keeffe will be interested to learn that the rate of murder and manslaughter in Ireland in 1995 was 1.47 per 100,000 of the population. The comparative figure for 2005 is 1.41 per 100,000 of the population.
The combined total of murders and manslaughters for each year since 1995 is as follows:
1995 = 53
1996 = 46
1997 = 53
1998 = 51
1999 = 47
2000 = 56
2001 = 58
2002 = 58
2003 = 53
2004 = 45
2005 = 58
There have been significant reductions in the quarter in all but one of the five sexual crime categories, which show an overall decrease of 36%. In particular, there have been significant decreases in the offences of sexual assault, down 42%, unlawful carnal knowledge, down 32% and rape of a female, down 20%.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
There has been an increase in detections of possession of firearms, up 8%. Increases in possession offences are overwhelmingly due to police detection work. There has also been a reduction in the offence of discharging a firearm, down8%. Operation Anvil has contributed significantly to these encouraging developments. The most recent figures available to me show that since the introduction of Operation Anvil one year ago next month, more than 500 firearms have been seized, which has a corresponding effect on the level of use. To date, Operation Anvil has resulted in more than 2,300 arrests for serious crimes, including murder and serious assault. The operation is being extended and strengthened. Following my request to the Garda Commissioner, it has been extended nationwide this year. This has already resulted in a number of arrests, the seizure of a substantial quantity of drugs and ammunition and the targeting of criminals who travel to parts of the country outside the Dublin metropolitan region to commit burglaries and other offences. It has resulted, for example, in the arrest of a number of persons from west Dublin in the Garda southern region for a number of residential burglaries and the arrest of a person in the south eastern region for a series of burglaries who had recently been released from prison in the UK.
Initiatives under Operation Anvil are ongoing and focused on what is most required. They are monitored closely by senior Garda management in the light of crime trends at divisional level. In addition, the Commissioner in November 2005 augmented the organised crime unit at the national bureau of criminal investigation with an additional 55 Garda members to address the problem of criminal gang activity. Enforcement by the unit has resulted in further firearms being seized and a number of persons arrested, thereby disrupting their criminal activities.
I am determined that disturbing trends will be addressed and, despite an increasing population, we should continue to enjoy relatively low crime rates. I am particularly concerned at the increase in the level of murders. While the detection rate for murders remains in general high, the rise in gangland killings and the lower level of detection for them remains a cause of concern. I note that no cases of manslaughter were recorded for the quarter.
High on the Government's list of policing priorities for 2006, which has been incorporated into the Garda Síochána policing plan for the year, is the continued targeting of organised crime, including drug trafficking, and the gun culture associated with it through the use of specialist units and targeted, intelligence-led operations. Garda strategies are in place for dealing with drug offences which are designed to undermine the activities of organised criminal networks involved in the trafficking and distribution of illicit drugs. These strategies include gathering intelligence on individuals and organisations involved in the distribution of drugs, conducting targeted operations on criminal networks based on intelligence gathered and working in collaboration with other law enforcement agencies both within and outside the jurisdiction to address the national and international aspects of drug trafficking and distribution. These strategies continue to result in operational successes.
While it is the case that a number of the increases in headline crime statistics reflect increased enforcement activity on the part of the Garda Síochána, the overall picture indicates there absolutely is no room for complacency. The Government's decision to continue to devote unprecedented resources to the fight against crime shows that it is not complacent, as does my insistence that those resources be deployed at the front line of policing in the State.
The Garda Síochána this year has the highest level of resources in its history — €1,290 million — an increase of €146 million or 13% on 2005 and over 100% on 1997. The provision for Garda overtime in 2006 is €83.5 million, an increase of €23 million on the allocation for 2005. This increase is greatly assisting the planned deployment of a visible policing service in a flexible, effective and targeted response to criminal activity and to crime prevention. The €83.5 million in overtime will yield 2.725 million extra hours of policing by uniformed and special units throughout the State.
Implementation is well advanced of the Government's decision of October 2004 to approve the recruitment of 2,000 additional gardaí to increase the strength of the force to 14,000. As a result there will be a combined organisational strength, of both attested gardaí and recruits in training, of 14,000 in 2006 and 14,000 attested gardaí in two years' time. The Commissioner is now deciding how to distribute and manage these additional resources in the areas where they are most needed. One thing I have already promised is that the additional gardaí will not be put on administrative duties but will be put directly into frontline, operational, high-visibility policing.
I am pleased to inform the Deputies that the first group of newly attested gardaí under the accelerated recruitment programme came on stream in March and a further 275 newly attested gardaí will come on stream every 90 days from here on in.
The decreases in the two categories of robbery of cash and goods in transit and robbery of an establishment or institution, down 38% and 7% respectively, are encouraging. However, recent events have highlighted that a radical lapse in standards has occurred. It had been intended that the Private Security Authority would introduce licensing of the cash movement sector at the end of a voluntary compliance period where the industry would be given time within which to bring its standards up to the requisite approved standards, which would form the basis for licensing. As a result of recent developments, however, the chief executive of the authority has advised me that she will bring forward proposals for the introduction of mandatory licensing of this sector as quickly as possible. Regulation of the cash in transit sector is only one aspect of the functions of the authority which was established to regulate the entire private security industry. These include licensing companies and persons providing a whole range of security services. The authority has already commenced licensing contractors providing private security services in the door supervisor and security guarding areas as well as licensing for suppliers and installers of intruder alarms.
The Criminal Justice Bill 2004, which is currently before the Select Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights, provides a comprehensive package of anti-crime measures which will enhance the powers of the Garda in the investigation and prosecution of offences. It contains an essential updating of our law to ensure that criminal offences can be investigated and prosecuted in a way which is efficient and fair and which meets the needs of modern society. It addresses such matters as the preservation of crime scenes, increased periods of detention in the case of arrestable offences, a general power of search in relation to all arrestable offences and also powers for the Garda Síochána to issue search warrants in circumstances of urgency. The Bill also contains amendments to the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence) Act 1990, provision for a fixed penalty procedure in respect of certain lesser public order offences and the admissibility of statements by witnesses who subsequently refuse to testify or who retract their original statements.
It is widely acknowledged that our legislative provision for tackling crime, especially serious and organised crime, is already one of the toughest in Europe. Nevertheless, I have brought forward a range of proposed additions to the Bill. Key proposed additions include the creation of criminal offences in relation to organised crime, the strengthening of provisions on the imposition of the ten year mandatory minimum sentence for drug trafficking, new offences of supplying drugs to prisons, provisions for the establishment of a drug offenders register, provisions to deal with anti-social behaviour; provision to deal with the Supreme Court decision that a judge could not issue warrants if he or she was outside his or her district, new provisions to allow the courts to suspend or partially suspend or to adjourn sentences on conditions which will motivate the offender to stay away from crime, such as participation in drug treatment programmes and provision to allow for restriction of movement orders including electronic monitoring.
Furthermore, because of my concern about firearms in general and in order to ensure public safety and security, I propose to bring forward a wide range of amendments to the Firearms Acts 1925-2000 in the context of the Bill. Included in these new proposals are measures which will require all persons wishing to legally hold a firearm to satisfy the Garda that they have provided secure accommodation for the firearm; allow the Minister to deem certain firearms as "restricted" by reference to specific criteria, including the calibre, action type and muzzle energy of the firearm — in future any person wishing to obtain a certificate for such a firearm will have to apply directly to the Garda Commissioner; introduce new offences concerning the modification of firearms such as "sawing-off" a shotgun; increase fines and penalties generally for offences under the Firearms Acts; create mandatory minimum sentences, of between five and ten years, for certain firearms offences, including possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances, possession of firearm with criminal intent, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury to property, possession of a firearm while hijacking a vehicle, and use or production of a firearm to resist arrest.
I also intend to introduce a statutory basis for an amnesty during which firearms may be surrendered to the Garda Síochána before new penalties and minimum mandatory sentences are introduced. This will enable those in possession of firearms, who are not in compliance with the legal requirements, to regularise their position, and thus enable the Garda Síochána to concentrate on more serious offenders.
Furthermore a comprehensive package of proposals on juvenile justice issues has been brought forward as Committee Stage amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill by my colleague, Deputy Brian Lenihan, Minister of State with special responsibility for children. The enactment of this Bill is a top priority and I hope to see it on the Statute Book by the summer.
I assure Deputies that the legal, operational measures and resources in place to tackle crime are kept under continuing review and any further measures and resources which are required will be made available.
I assure the House that I am in regular contact with the Garda Commissioner to keep the measures and resources for tackling serious crime under continuing review, and I will continue to do all in my power to maximise the level of resources available to the Garda Síochána.
I have set out in tabular format the percentage changes in indictable-headline crime, 1995 to 2005.
|
Year |
Frequency |
Population |
Crime Rate per 1000 |
% Change on 1995 |
% Change on 1996 |
% Change on 1997 |
% Change on 1998 |
% Change on 1999 |
% Change on 2000 |
% Change on 2001 |
% Change on 2002 |
% Change on 2003 |
% Change on 2004 |
% Change Year on Year |
|
1995 |
102,484 |
3.5m |
29 |
0 |
||||||||||
|
1996 |
100,785 |
-2 |
-2 |
|||||||||||
|
1997 |
90,875 |
-11 |
-10 |
-10 |
||||||||||
|
1998 |
85,627 |
-16 |
-15 |
-6 |
-6 |
|||||||||
|
1999 |
81,274 |
-21 |
-19 |
-11 |
-5 |
-5 |
||||||||
|
2000 |
73,276 |
-29 |
-27 |
-19 |
-14 |
-10 |
-10 |
|||||||
|
2001 |
86,633 |
-15 |
-14 |
-5 |
1 |
7 |
18 |
18 |
||||||
|
2002 |
106,415 |
3.9m |
27 |
4 |
6 |
17 |
24 |
31 |
45 |
23 |
23 |
|||
|
2003 |
103,360 |
4m |
26 |
1 |
3 |
14 |
21 |
27 |
41 |
19 |
-3 |
-3 |
||
|
2004 |
98,964 |
4m |
24 |
-3 |
-2 |
9 |
16 |
22 |
35 |
14 |
-7 |
-4 |
-4 |
|
|
2005 |
101,712 |
4.1m |
24 |
-1 |
1 |
12 |
19 |
25 |
39 |
17 |
-4 |
-2 |
3 |
3 |
It should be borne in mind that any interpretation of the crime figures should factor in the increase in our population in the past ten years. In 1995 with a population of almost 3.6 million people, there were 29 crimes per 1,000 of the population. In 2005, with a population of over 4.1 million, there were 24.6 crimes per 1,000 of the population, a reduction of 4.4 crimes per 1,000 of the population. To put this in context, during the two full years of the rainbow coalition Government, with a population of 600,000 less than at present, the headline crime figures were as follows: 1995, 102,484 and 1996, 100,785.
The figure for 1999 refers to January to September only because of the introduction of PULSE. Figures for the years 2000 onwards reflect enhancements to the compilation of statistics due to the introduction of PULSE. The figures for 2005 are provisional only.
The Minister does not seem to accept that we have a huge crime problem in this country. How can we expect a solution from the Government unless he accepts there is a problem? For all his bluster and bravado, does he not agree, now that he is in his fourth year as Minister and with his term nearly over, that crime is worse than ever? I refer to the figures over the nine years the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government has been in office. In 1998, the first full year, the crime figure was 85,000 and last year the figures smashed 100,000 for the 12 months. The quarterly figures show an increase of 71% in murder and homicide, a 22% increase in robberies from the person and a 25% increase in thefts from vehicles.
Will the Minister accept that his legacy is that the crime rates are up, the detection rates are down over the same period I mentioned, from 44% to 35%, and the public are living in fear of their lives? Will he not agree that unless he is prepared to accept there is a problem, there will be no solution under this Government? I have to suggest to the Minister that he is all tongue and no teeth, he promises a lot and delivers little. He talks tough and achieves virtually nothing. Will he agree that he will not solve crime with his tongue? He must provide the resources that were committed and promised in the past. He has not done so and until that is done, we will not tackle the crime problem. If he does not do so, the next Government will provide those resources.
It is obvious the Deputy has not listened to a word I said. The situation is that the level of headline crime in Ireland is now less than it was when he and his partners were in Government in 1995 and 1996.
It is a change in definition.
The number of headline crimes per head of population has reduced from 29 to 24.
It is a case of Windscale becoming Sellafield. The Minister is whistling past the graveyard.
If we are to compare performances — there is an unwillingness to accept there was a problem — the problem was significantly worse when some members of the Deputies' parties opposite were at the Cabinet table.
The Deputy asked me about resources. The resources that have been devoted to the Garda Síochána have never been higher——
Where are the 2,000 gardaí?
——both in financial terms and in numbers.
Every Vote is higher.
I remind the Deputies opposite of what happened——
This is tautology.
The Deputy must allow the Minister to continue.
——when they were in office. It is fascinating that every time we discuss the record of the parties opposite, they start shouting.
I remind the Deputies that when they were in office the numbers of gardaí in the force declined, whereas while I have been in office and while the two parties have been in office, the numbers of gardaí have dramatically increased. The size of the Garda Síochána budget has gone up from approximately €590 million to €1.3 billion in the lifetime of the Government of these two parties and during my stewardship it has gone up by39%. The Garda Síochána has never been better resourced and never been better equipped. It is achieving results which are very good in general terms. The crime rate per 100,000 of the population is down. The number of murders, compared with when Deputy Howlin was at the Cabinet table, is down per 100,000 of the population. Compared with Glasgow, Ireland has a crime rate and a murder rate which is significantly less——
We are safer than in Baghdad.
There is no point in the Deputy heckling me and denying the fact. Ireland is not in the middle of a crime wave and it is an exaggeration to say it is.
I returned relatively recently to this brief and I started by accepting the figures which were e-mailed to me by the Minister, but he has already contradicted them. He stated that the murder rate is up by three. The figure sent to me shows that the number of murders, not manslaughter or homicide, is up from seven to 12, which is 71%, and that is contained in the Minister's press release. I will be more jaundiced in dealing with the Minister's figures from now on because it is clear they cannot be accepted at face value. The Minister whistles past the graveyard. He always has somebody else to blame.
I have some direct questions for the Minister. His predecessor asserted that the judgment of the people in how safe they felt would be the criterion by which the success of the Administration dealing with crime was to be judged. That was the litmus test set by his predecessor. On that basis, would the Minister accept that the most recent opinion poll, published on 22 March last, showed that 85% of the public are concerned about crime and public disorder which was the number one issue, that just 5% of the people believe the level of crime has fallen which the Minister has tried to assert yet again, and that, irrespective of statistics he uses to bamboozle people, they know full well that murder is becoming a regular occurrence and that life has been devalued under his stewardship and that of his immediate predecessor?
Every time there is a damning indictment of the Minister's stewardship, he flies a new kite. His latest one is that we need to again tighten the bail regime. Does he accept that the bail regime was tightened by referendum under the stewardship of the rainbow Government of which he is now so disparaging, and that was effective? Despite his smokescreen of last week, does he accept that the Garda figures in 1994, which are the ones in advance of the referendum, showed that the Garda believed that 9% of crimes were committed by those on bail and the most recent figures from the 2004 Garda annual report show that only 5% were committed by those on bail? Contrary to the Minister's assertion that the courts are not implementing the Act subsequently——
I ask Deputy Howlin to be brief because we are running out of time.
——is he aware that the numbers on remand have increased from 6.5% before the bail referendum to 16.5% in the most recent figures available ten years later in 2004? Contrary to the Minister's assertion, the changes put forward by the rainbow Government are having an effect on reducing the recidivism of those on bail. Will the Minister set the record straight on that and take some responsibility for his and his predecessor's eight years of stewardship in this coalition?
I am glad Deputy Howlin now accepts that it is legitimate to look at the comparative records of the rainbow Government and the Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats coalitions in these matters.
We have done nothing else.
I reiterate that the number of headline crimes when he was at the Cabinet table——
Did he hear what the people were saying?
——with a population of 3.6 million——
Some 5% agree with the Minister.
Deputy Howlin is in the shouting down business again.
Deputy Howlin, I would ask you to allow the Minister to speak. The Chair has been generous to you and Deputy O'Keeffe in allowing you to speak at length.
Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle.
I have asked only one supplementary question.
Yes, Deputy O'Keeffe, and already 12 minutes have passed. There was 12 minutes for this question.
We are supposed to be on Priority Questions.
The Minister should be allowed reply without interruption and then we will move on to questions in the name of the two Members.
Deputy O'Keeffe only had one supplementary question, but what a supplementary it was.
I am glad the Minister appreciated it.
The number of headline crimes when Deputy Howlin was at the Cabinet table exceeds the current number——
He changed the definition.
——with a population of 3.6 million then and 4.1 million now. The number of gardaí was allowed to drop when the rainbow coalition was in office and I and my predecessor, Deputy O'Donoghue, have increased the number of gardaí substantially.
People do not believe the Minister.
The resources of the Garda Síochána have never risen faster than they are rising at present and the number of crimes per 1,000 of population has come down from 29.6 at the time——
Murder is up 71%.
——the rainbow coalition was in office to 24 per 1,000 of population now. Those are the facts.
No. The Minister has changed the definitions.
Deputy Howlin, I would ask you to allow the Minister to finish.
The table is set out in the reply which I will furnish here today.
The Minister has not convinced the people.
The Minister will be remembered as the Minister for murder and mayhem.
No amount of bluster, filibustering, heckling or anything else changes those facts.
The Chair must take a much tighter control of the time for questions.
3 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he intends to formally consult all interested groups and stakeholders before proceeding further with his plans for a volunteer Garda reserve force including concerned non-governmental organisations, community sector representatives, youth workers and so on from working class communities in particular; and if he will give a commitment to engage in these consultations. [15842/06]
The provision in the Garda Síochána Act 2005 for the establishment of a Garda reserve won widespread support in the House, although the Deputy and his colleagues opposed it.
On a point of order, is the Minister taking my question with this one?
No, I am taking Deputy Howlin's separately.
I thank the Minister.
I did not want to put Deputy Howlin into the same category as Deputy Ó Snodaigh.
Come on.
The Minister at least has some discretion.
In giving effect to the will of the Oireachtas, I am committed to real and substantial consultation.
I have met each of the garda representative associations to discuss the Garda reserve. I have also invited them in for more detailed discussions on the Garda Commissioner's proposals on the recruitment, training, powers, duties and deployment of reserve members. The chief superintendents have already come in for one such discussion and, as the House will be aware, the superintendents' association has backed the proposal but has stated that it wants to be consulted as well, and it will be. I am grateful for the very helpful comment it made. I expect to discuss the matter with the superintendents next week.
I commend these associations for their positive attitude to the proposals, and I hope that both the GRA and the AGSI will see the value in now engaging in consultations. My door is open. I have made clear that, subject only to respecting the will of the Oireachtas on the establishment of a reserve, I am genuinely open to any constructive proposals on the recruitment, training, powers, duties and deployment of reserve members and I want to hear the views of the associations on those matters rather than simply a sterile argument on points of principle. I reiterate they have the opportunity to help shape the role of the reserve and I urge them to seize that opportunity.
It was a pleasure to go to the AGSI conference recently and to be allowed to address it. I noted that the rank and file members present were divided, approximately 50-50, in support for the position which was so strongly articulated by their executive. It was the executive's vote that swung the day.
Although I may not get the same opportunity with the GRA, I will keep my door open and I intend to publish the regulations in draft form——
I will have a chat with them for the Minister.
——to bring them before the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights and have a good discussion with all Members of the House who are interesting in discussing their substance at that venue.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
There is no obligation under the Garda Síochána Act to do so, as the regulations simply require the approval of Government, but I thought it right to undertake the widest possible process of consultation before finalising the proposals for the reserve. I look forward to engaging with the committee, and the committee may well take the opportunity to hear a variety of different views on the proposals.
I recently commissioned research into the public's attitude to crime and law enforcement, and I was particularly pleased, but not at all surprised, at the strong level of public support this indicated for a Garda reserve, with 73% of respondents in favour.
The Oireachtas has decided that there should be a Garda reserve and the public strongly support this. The Garda Commissioner's proposals envisage a thoroughly-trained reserve, with carefully selected powers and duties, working under the supervision of members of the Garda Síochána. I am engaged in a process of comprehensive consultation on these proposals, including consultation with a joint committee of these Houses.
At least the Minister acknowledged that my party opposed the reserve from day one. We recognise that we were out-voted on that.
At this stage, I want to minimise the damage the Minister intends to do. With that in mind, I recognise that the Minister is engaged, in his view, with the stakeholders in consultation. The problem is that the Garda representative associations are not the only stakeholders in this. One of the main stakeholders is obviously the community. Would the Minister agree that the community is the ultimate stakeholder in all of this? Why has the Minister not engaged in formal and meaningful consultation with NGOs and community sector representatives such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the likes of Fr. McVerry and people who have raised concerns about the reserve force, the police force and its class basis in general? If he intends to do so, will he immediately initiate consultation with those bodies and not proceed any further until the outcome of those consultations?
Deputy Ó Snodaigh spoke of NGOs representing the community. As far as I am concerned, I suppose the Government parties are GOs — governmental organisations — for the time being but the Opposition parties are NGOs. The Opposition parties are non-governmental organisations which have a mandate from the people to speak on these matters. They have spoken with considerable clarity on the issue, and I have consulted and will consult with them.
I will talk to anybody who wants to make a submission to me on the issue or who wants to make an input, and I am sure the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights of these Houses will take into account all of those points of view.
On the other question of finding out what the people think, it is noteworthy that the Deputies opposite were selective in quoting for their purposes questions about attitudes to crime in a Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform sponsored opinion survey, which was published in March last. I remind Deputy Ó Snodaigh, in particular, that the overwhelming majority of people who were questioned in that survey, on which reliance was placed for every other purpose in the House, backed the concept of a reserve, while the overwhelming majority of public representatives back it as well. It is not a question of principle on which the public is badly divided. The question now is implementation and consultation. I will consult the Opposition and the Garda representative associations and I will encourage the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights to take the opportunity to seek external views, as it so wishes. However, I do not accept the proposition that the community is represented in these matters by the views of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties or the esteemed Fr. McVerry. The public is clear and I must rely on my judgment as well in regard to people approaching me on the street to outline their views on the issue. It runs eight or nine to one in favour of establishing a reserve.
4 Mr. J. O’Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will provide a comprehensive timetable for civilianisation in the Garda; the estimate of the amount which will be spent, both monetarily and in terms of resources, on the reserve force in any given calendar year; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15878/06]
Since the formation of the State, Governments of every stripe have been slow, if not dilatory, in civilianising non-core policing functions. We have come late to the process compared with other European police jurisdictions. As the Hayes report into the Garda Síochána Act 2005 implementation review group stated:
We are concerned that the rate of civilianisation in the Garda Síochána is low by international standards and much lower than in many immediately comparable services. Trained and experienced Garda officers, whose expertise is badly needed in other activities, are being used on desk and other work which would be much more appropriately, and probably more efficiently done by civilian staff who do the same sort of jobs elsewhere in the public service. However, civilianisation now goes further. In modern policing the skills of analysts and statisticians are increasingly being used, and many of the new breed of scene of crime officers are civilian and are recruited at graduate level as specialists in these fields. In particular, criminal intelligence analysis is now at the core of modern policing. Traditional approaches to making sense of data in relation to crime and individual criminal investigations are no longer adequate.
In 2001, following negotiations with the Garda representative bodies, the Government approved the civilianisation of 496 posts in the Garda to be filled on a phased basis as gardaí occupying civilian posts in stations retired over a 20-year period. The programme drawn up provided for the civilianisation of these posts in the short, medium and long term, the transfer of the finance function from Garda district officers to civilian staff, and the transfer of civilian staff from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the Garda.
Of the 496 posts identified in 2001 for civilianisation, 296 were administrative. The balance of the posts were specialist posts concerned with telecommunications, mapping, photography, etc. Furthermore, while 161 posts were identified for civilianisation in the short term, only 27 posts were to be civilianised in the period 2004 to 2006, with the remainder to be civilianised over the period up to 2021. Recently, the Garda representatives stated they want that process expedited. I welcome their change of heart and I look forward to discussing with the associations how the process of civilianisation can be expedited.
Additional Information not given on the floor of the House.
In this regard, it is worth noting that the direct replacement of individual gardaí doing clerical-administrative work in Garda stations has also been affected by the taking of equal pay cases by the Civil, Public and Services Union, CPSU. I am appealing those cases that were successful at the Equality Tribunal and expect that the appeal will be heard by the Labour Court before the summer.
In the meantime, I am pleased to report significant progress in the implementation of the civilianisation programme. I can also confirm in this context that there is no embargo on the recruitment of civilians to fill clerical roles carried out by members of the Garda. While there is a cap on overall Civil Service numbers, this has not been allowed to impact on the filling of administrative vacancies in the Garda.
The Government has at my request approved the transfer of 300 surplus posts from the Department of Agriculture and Food to my Department to assist with the Garda civilianisation programme. The first phase of this transfer has taken place in recent months with the establishment of the Garda information service centre, GISC, in Castlebar. When fully operational, this centre will employ more than 160 civilian staff. The GISC is yielding enormous benefits to the Garda. It frees up officers from having to return to the station following a crime event to enter data on PULSE. This means they can continue to carry out frontline policing duties while their reports are being typed up by their civilian colleagues. This scheme is in place in the southern division and will go nationwide later this year.
The GISC, an innovation which I instigated, is just one part of the civilianisation programme being implemented. Some 113 civilian finance officers have been appointed and are carrying out the district finance officer duties in every Garda division that were hitherto performed by gardaí. A number of other posts that were previously held by members of the force have been, or are in the process of being, civilianised. Discussions are under way with staff interests on the implementation of a key recommendation in the civilianisation report — the transfer of civilian staff to the direct control of the Garda Commissioner — a reform that was legislated for in the Garda Síochána Act 2005. This transfer is due to take place on 1 October.
However, it should be borne in mind that the 2001 civilianisation report was agreed at a point in time. It represented the conclusions of the group established to consider this issue several years ago in light of the prevailing circumstances and the consensus view of the staff and management interests at that time. It cannot be the final word on the matter. Since the report was written, a significant number of civilians have been recruited to work in the Garda doing tasks that were not even envisaged in 2001. Given that this has happened in the space of less than five years, it is inevitable that further significant changes in the operational environment of the Garda will occur over the next 15 years. The force is, by virtue of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, undergoing a programme of reform that is unprecedented in its 84-year history. It is clear that significantly increased civilianisation of the force, which would optimise its capacity to provide the frontline policing for which it has been trained, is a public policy imperative and one to which I am committed to advancing significantly on my watch.
The civilianisation report provides an important point of departure in progressing civilianisation, but for the reasons outlined, it cannot be the final word on the issue. For this reason, a joint implementation group, drawn from management in the Garda and my Department, has been established to review the report in the light of developments in the intervening years and to plan and develop a comprehensive timetable for the ongoing implementation of civilianisation, both in the context of the report and otherwise. I expect this group will give the civilianisation programme a new impetus and I look forward to the outcome of its deliberations.
As regards the Garda Síochána reserve, section 15 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 provides for the appointment of civilian reserve members of the Garda. I am very impressed with the comprehensive nature of the proposals for the Garda reserve made by the Garda Commissioner. The proposals envisage a thoroughly trained reserve with carefully selected powers and duties, working under the supervision of members of the Garda. I have met each of the Garda representative associations to discuss the Commissioner's proposals before I proceed to draw up the necessary regulations for Government approval. Further discussions will be held with the associations under the Garda conciliation scheme. I also intend to present the regulations in draft form to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights for the consideration of the committee. The additional resource of a well trained civilian reserve with carefully selected powers and duties will significantly increase the capacity of the Garda to combat crime and disorder, and provide the public with the security and safety they rightly demand.
In the Revised Estimates for 2006, €1.28 million has been provided in subhead A10 of the Garda Síochána Vote for costs associated with the establishment of the reserve. The full extent of resource requirements relating to the Garda reserve will be established in due course during the implementation process and adequate provision will be made in the Estimates process. I will deal with the establishment of the reserve in more detail in my reply to Priority QuestionNo. 5.
The country is short of gardaí but 66 members of the force are involved in information technology, 88 are involved in human resources and 14 are deployed in the press office. Is it not the case that there is a shortage of gardaí and the commitments to provide additional gardaí have not been kept? However, fully trained members are filling the position to which I referred. Why have they not been released from such activities?
I spoke to representatives of the GRA and the AGSI and they have no difficulty with civilianisation. Why has it not been undertaken? Estates in every village, town and city are crying out for more gardaí, yet some members are tied to desks doing work that could be done equally as well and, in some instances, better by people trained separately to do so. Has the Minister a reasonable explanation for his failure to complete the process of civilianisation which was touted five years ago as part of the solution to the lack of Garda numbers?
The agreement arrived at in 2001 prior to my appointment provided for civilianisation of 496 posts over 20 years, with only 27 to be civilianised between then and now. At my request, 300 surplus posts in the Department of Agriculture and Food are to be transferred to my Department to assist with the civilianisation programme. The first phase took place in recent months with the establishment of the Garda information service centre, GISC, in Castlebar. When fully operational, this centre will employ more than 160 civilian staff. It will be a call centre for PULSE and it will mean gardaí will no longer have to return to their stations to input reports.
The Deputy referred to the numbers of gardaí engaged in IT, human resources and the press office and I share his view that these are not core policing functions. It is my intention to engage with the representative associations on rapidly accelerating the civilianisation process above and beyond the snail's pace agreed with them in 2001. The Deputy stated they have no problem with this. We will see when we sit down with them whether they are agreeable to the acceleration of the programme agreed in 2001, but I agree with the Deputy that this should be done.
With regard to human resources, it is significant that, for the first time, a civilian manager has been recruited in this area by the Garda. Such functions should not be carried out by gardaí. Recruits do not pass through Templemore to become human resources managers or press officers. I look forward to the time most of those positions will be in the hands of civilians and members who currently undertake those functions will be engaged in frontline policing duties. The public wants to see them on the streets.
5 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the position with regard to the establishment of the Garda reserve; when he expects the first recruits to the reserve to begin training; if a final decision has been made on the numbers to be recruited; his views on the decision of the main representative organisations not to co-operate with the reserve; if he plans further discussions with the representative bodies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15880/06]
In July 2005, as part of a submission on the future resourcing requirements of the Garda, the Garda Commissioner proposed the recruitment of up to 4,000 reserve members, as provided for in the Garda Síochána Act 2005, and an increase in the force's strength from 14,000 to 15,000. In response, and in the context of identifying policing priorities for inclusion in the Garda policing plan for 2006, I set the objective of the recruitment of 900 reserve members by September 2006. Subsequently, the Commissioner submitted detailed proposals to me on the recruitment, training, powers, duties and deployment of reserve members. The proposals envisage a thoroughly trained reserve with carefully selected powers and duties, working under the supervision of members of the Garda.
I must make regulations under the 2005 Act, with Government approval, to give effect to these proposals. I have made it clear that, before I do so, I would like to have detailed consultations with the Garda representative associations and I intend also to refer the regulations in draft form to the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights for its consideration. I should have them in the next few days. The recruitment campaign for reserve members will commence as soon as the regulations are made.
I have met representatives of all four Garda associations on this issue and have invited them to further and more detailed discussions. The Garda reserve will reinforce the links between the Garda and local communities and it will enhance the capacity of the force to respond to emerging policing challenges. I have seen how well special constabularies, which are broadly equivalent to the reserve, work in Britain and how good and effective are the relations between them and the regular police forces. This is a great opportunity to enhance the policing service and I urge the two main Garda associations to take the opportunity to make their contribution to it. My door is open for consultation.
Did the Minister give a commitment to the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors that no members of the reserve force would be deployed during the lifetime of this Dáil? The answer is "yes" or "no".
I did not make such a commitment. I dealt with this issue the last time I was in the House for question time. At the time the draft heads of the Bill were being published, there was a Government freeze on any further recruitment to the Garda Síochána above 12,200. I told the AGSI that I would never use a reserve as a substitute to arrive at the 14,000 member mark, which was promised in the programme for Government. As things stood at that time, it was unlikely that any recruiting of the reserve would be done in the life of this Government. Things changed——
Or while he remained Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
I have ambitions which might go beyond that.
Those words were also included.
I did not give the AGSI an undertaking that I would resign at the end of this Government's term.
There is no need to do that. The people will do it for him.
I listened carefully to the Dáil debate on the issue. At the beginning, there were delay mechanisms to the introduction of the reserve force. The overwhelming consensus of this House — the only exception to which was the view of the Sinn Féin Deputies — was that I should go ahead and recruit the reserve now. The joint committee sent a delegation to view how reservists work in the UK and it was so impressed that it was in favour of the proposition. I am only doing what the Oireachtas wants me to do.
I posed a simple question which has a "yes" or "no" answer.
No, I did not give any undertaking, but yes, I gave a prediction that it would not happen.
It is a simple "yes" or "no" answer. In my first meeting with the AGSI spokesmen, they said the Minister gave such a commitment. Did the Minister contact them subsequently to resile from that when circumstances altered and the embargo was changed? It would have been good practice to do so.
I share the view of the previous Labour Party spokesman on justice, Deputy Costello, that there is a role for a reserve force. Will the September 2006 target to deploy 900 recruits be met? Does he accept the Garda Commissioner's recommended number of 4,000 recruits in total? What is the training regime for the reserve? Is it set in stone or is it subject to negotiation? Is the Minister now sure of the specific powers to be devolved to the new reserve force?
I received a submission from the Commissioner with his proposals on the functioning of the reserve. That sets out in extenso his view of the powers that the reserve force should have. It is not his function to determine these matters, but rather a question for the Government to make an order. I intend to consult with the joint committee on these issues before we arrive at a final position.
I originally spoke of a ratio of 1:10, which means there would be about 1,400 members of the reserve force. The Garda organisation development unit was working on that basis in early 2005. Different views have been expressed since then. Deputy O'Keeffe suggested 5,000.
I thought I mentioned 4,000.
He came up with 5,000. I have him on record in expansive humour. It does not matter. If the size of the reserve relative to the full-time force is a matter of concern to the force, I am willing to discuss that issue. I wish to arrive at a consensus with the Garda representative organisations. If they have a major problem with that issue, then I am willing to discuss the limit of the reserve with them.
What about the figure of 900 by September?
That is the target.
Does it remain the target?
It remains the target for September. Training must be carried out and I cannot suddenly click my fingers and establish training courses all over Ireland. These things must be done gradually and must be done to a high standard.
The figure of 900 was in the context of 4,000. If the Minister is moving from that, it would represent an olive branch to move the September deadline as well.
If I thought that was the case, I would say so. As far as I am concerned, 900 recruits is an achievable target for this year. How far we go beyond that target is a matter on which I am genuinely willing to consult. The two representative associations which have thus far expressed opposition in principle to the idea have not been willing to discuss any other figure. I have indicated to them that I am willing discuss other figures if that interests them.
What about training and powers?
The training must be part of the regulations establishing the reserve. I am definitely willing to discuss the issue with anybody who wishes to do so and I will discuss it with the joint committee.
