Vol. 759 No. 1
60Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the preliminary crime statistics in respect of 2011, broken down by category; his views on the number of burglaries and his plans for dealing with this specific issue during 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14028/12]
63Deputy Dara Calleary asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the number of aggravated assaults in 2011 and to date in 2012; the legislative plans he has for this area; his views that the Gardaí have sufficient resources to deal with this issue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14029/12]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 60 and 63 together.
Beginning with the Deputy's crime statistics queries, I am informed by the Central Statistics Office, which has the statutory responsibility for the production of crime statistics, that the recorded crime statistics for 2011 are expected to be published at the end of this month. This reflects a new publication layout and schedule, as a result of which future releases will be published three months after the end of the relevant quarter. Accordingly, the CSO recorded crime statistics for the third quarter of 2011 are the most recent available official figures. These showed a welcome decrease in 12 of 14 crime groups, compared with the same quarter in 2010, as well as a decrease on an annualised basis in 11 of these 14 categories. This included reductions in homicide offences, sexual assaults, controlled-drug offences and public order offences.
In so far as the Deputy's two specific queries are concerned, the number of burglaries increased by 3.2% on an annualised basis to the end of quarter three in 2011, while assault offences were reduced by 7.4% over the same period. These and other crime trends are monitored closely by Garda management, with intelligence-led initiatives put in place to target burglary and other criminality. Special intelligence-led operations are also in place to tackle serious and organised criminal activity.
The national crime prevention unit, NCPU, and crime prevention officers at divisional level provide advice, information and support to organisations, businesses and individuals aimed at reducing burglary crime and the opportunity to commit burglary. These specially trained officers are skilled at identifying environmental design risks and advise on what mitigating action can be taken to reduce opportunities to commit burglary and other property crime.
The national crime prevention unit has designed a number of crime prevention advice leaflets, including advice on home security and burglary prevention, by means of a step-by-step checklist of requirements to reduce opportunistic burglary crime. These leaflets and the checklist are available on the Garda website. During 2012, the national Garda supporting safer communities campaign will continue to highlight key issues, in particular burglary prevention. The primary objective of this Garda community safety campaign is to engage with and raise awareness within communities of initiatives aimed at preventing crime, reducing the fear of crime and promoting community safety. The first campaign will take place in early May and the second will take place in September.
The "Crime Call" television programme, broadcast once a month to an average audience of 400,000 viewers, is often utilised to target specifically the issue of burglary prevention. Practical crime prevention advice will continue to be given to the public to highlight the most common means of entry along with effective security measures the householder can take to deter the burglar.
More broadly, the 2012 policing plan of An Garda Síochána sets out the continued commitment of An Garda Síochána to proactively target groups and individuals engaged in criminal activity, including organised criminal activities. Local Garda management closely monitors mobile and other patrols, together with other operational strategies in place, in conjunction with crime trends and policing needs of the community to ensure optimum use is made of Garda resources and the best possible Garda service is provided to the public.
Garda management is satisfied that a comprehensive policing service is being delivered and that current structures meet the requirements for delivery of an effective and efficient policing service. For the Government's part, we will do everything we can to support the gardaí in their work, to provide resources as public finances permit, and to respond to any legislative needs that are identified.
I thank the Minister for his reply and welcome the trend he identified. I wish to focus on a couple of areas, and in particular aggravated assaults. There were two very high profile incidents at Christmas and last month and we sympathise with the families of Andrew Dolan and James Tynan.
There is a difficulty in our urban centres, in particular at weekends, where drug or alcohol related incidents occur. The Minister spoke about the safer communities campaign but there is a fear of being in many urban centres at weekends after a certain hour. Is there a specific strategy in place either in the Department or the Garda to address that issue, in particular in light of the completely unwarranted and aggravated assaults which I mentioned and which take place every weekend, although we do not hear about them?
We will probably get the chance to debate the crime figures next month but, last week, we saw a very serious spike in the number of gangland attacks and crimes. Is the Minister concerned about that spike or is it under control? Has he discussed last week's incidents? We had the incident in Tallaght where an innocent bystander, Melanie McCarthy-McNamara, was killed. Has the Minister had any discussions with the Garda Commissioner or the Garda authorities in regard to that issue?
To take the first question first, the Garda is very conscious of the reality that more incidents tend to occur at weekends than during the week. I expect the new Garda roster will be of considerable assistance in this context and it is expected that it will start to operate from 1 April. That will allow for the organisation of gardaí in order to focus a concentration of gardaí in urban areas at weekends. That is a very important change which took some considerable time to bring about. I welcome the assistance and co-operation of the Garda bodies in discussing and negotiating these changes. That will be of additional help to the gardaí in regard to assaults which have taken place.
It is a continuing concern that young people drink alcohol to access at weekends and that what might be minor disagreements end up being violent incidents and that tragedies occur such as those described by the Deputy. I know he will understand if, as Minister, I do not address a specific incident as I do not want to prejudice any investigation or possible prosecution that might take place.
In regard to gangland issues and the barbaric shootings, unfortunately, we have within the community numbers of individuals engaged in drug gangs who have no respect of any nature for human life and who behave in a manner which is completely beyond the Pale and is unacceptable to the overall community. There have been incidents, of which Deputies are aware, in the past number of days. Indeed, only yesterday I had a meeting with the Garda Commissioner to discuss generally, as we do on a regular basis, issues of concern and steps being taken by An Garda Síochána. Gardaí are very much engaged in investigating the events that have taken place. They have a clear focus on those who have been engaged in some of these events. Again, I must be careful about what I say in the Dáil about these matters.
Unfortunately, we have drug gangs which are at war with each other. There are individuals in these gangs who develop grudges for a series of reasons and resort to a barbaric form of violence, willing to take life without any forethought.
I assure the Deputy and the House the Garda is specifically focusing on those gangs which need to be targeted. They are doing everything possible to bring an end to these incidents-----
Prevention is the word.
-----and I believe they will be successful in bringing to justice those responsible.
It is out of control.
If we could cut out what happened last week it might not be repeated. The Minister stated, "Lawlessness cannot be allowed to prevail and the gang lords cannot be left to mete out their own version of street justice as they see fit". Speaking about the then Minister, Dermot Ahern, he also stated, "The Minister is not living up to his most basic responsibility of making sure the people feel safe on the streets of the nation's capital. Innocent bystanders have been murdered before and if the killing is allowed to continue at this rate it won't be long before such a tragedy happens again". What is the Minister doing to ensure innocent people will not be killed in the coming weeks in Dublin?
Recent legislation is being fully used by the Garda to target these gangs. Gardaí are applying all appropriate resources to bring to justice those who are responsible for the deaths that have occurred. I do not believe it is acceptable that we have gangs who believe they can take life with no accountability or responsibility. I have absolute faith in the work gardaí are doing to bring to justice those who have engaged in this conduct. The Garda has my full support in its continuing investigations into the events that have taken place. I am sure in the fullness of time the professionalism of gardaí in addressing these issues will become evident to the Deputy in the context of those who are brought before the courts.
61Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the UN fundamental human rights instruments to which this State has signed up make it clear that fundamental rights protections may be derogated from only in times of emergency that no such emergency exists that could possibly warrant the measures contained in the Offences Against the State Act; his plans for this legislation in view of the recent Supreme Court ruling. [14330/12]
The Government is very well aware of its obligations under the UN instruments to which it is a party and which have as their core the protection of fundamental human rights. Those rights are also guaranteed by Bunreacht na hÉireann. Nevertheless the Constitution recognises there are circumstances in which the functioning of the justice system may be undermined unless strong measures are taken to prevent this. Accordingly, the Constitution makes provision for special courts to be established by law in cases where it is determined that the ordinary courts are inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice or the preservation of public peace and order.
The Deputy is well aware the Offences against the State Act 1939 provides for the Special Criminal Court to try certain offences. However, the justice system may be undermined not only by terrorist groups but also by organised criminal groups such as those to which reference was made earlier. The 1939 Act permits the Director of Public Prosecutions to direct that certain cases be sent for trial in the Special Criminal Court. The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 has put in place legislative measures to combat organised crime when the effective administration of justice could not otherwise be achieved. Among the measures are those contained in section 8, which provide that certain organised crime offences under Part 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended, are deemed to be scheduled offences under the 1939 Act. In effect, this means the offences in question shall be tried in the Special Criminal Court unless the DPP directs that a person not be send forward for trial by that court.
The Government considers there remains a substantial threat from terrorist activity, in particular from so-called dissident paramilitary groups. In addition, as we have seen from the events of last week, with the murder of four men, organised criminal gangs have a contemptuous disregard for the rule of law and are prepared to take any measures to subvert it. It is against such a background that the provisions of the legislation are maintained. Although it is so far the case that no cases under section 8 have fallen to be tried in the Special Criminal Court, that does not invalidate the reasoning for having such a provision on the Statute Book.
The Deputy also asked about the response to the recent Supreme Court judgment concerning section 29(1) of the Act. I intend to bring proposals to Cabinet shortly to provide for a search power which is in conformity with the decision of the court. Pending that legislation, the Garda Síochána can avail of other statutory powers which allow applications for search warrants to be made to District Court judges in the first instance. My Department is making arrangements to brief the Opposition spokespersons on my proposals in this regard. This is expected to take place tomorrow.
I spoke to the Minster about this last week. This question was scheduled for last Thursday; however, I was unable to attend and it has been rescheduled. Sinn Féin has long said that the Offences Against the State Act should be repealed and there is a growing call for its repeal. Various organisations describe it as draconian. The Minister referred to section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 and Part 5 of the Offences Against the State Act. We have yet to see anyone prosecuted under that provision. The Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act of 1998 contains a number of sections that have not been used while others have been used on rare occasions. There is a great difference between the number of people arrested under the legislation and the number of people who end up in court and are convicted.
Can we have a question please?
The report laid before the House last year showed 764 people arrested under the provisions of section 30, yet only 38 convictions were secured. The legislation needs to be repealed because it is not working. A recent court decision referred to section 29. Can the Minister comment on the number of cases pending on which the court decision will have an effect?
I have no intention of seeking to repeal the Offences Against the State Act. The Deputy knows the remaining and continuing threat from what are sometimes referred to as dissident organisations. I regard them as urban terrorists intent on destroying the peace process in Northern Ireland and on the whole island of Ireland. This State needs to have available to it the mechanism of the Offences Against State Act to deal with those intent on murder and mayhem for their perceived political reasons on the island of Ireland. We also need it for gangland crime. Deputy Calleary was correct to raise the events of the past few days, when we saw horrific and barbaric murders in the context of those engaged in organised crime, primarily in the drug area. We need to ensure that the Garda Síochána has all legislative backup required to address this area. On occasions, prosecutions are brought where it is not necessary to utilise the provisions of the Offences Against the State Act. I presume the Deputy welcomes this. The manner in which the legislation has been amended and extended, to apply not only to our recalcitrant militant terrorists but also organised crime, is an important backup in the armoury available to the Garda Síochána and the facility to enable certain cases to be held in the Special Criminal Court. This is important in circumstances where a jury could be otherwise intimidated and justice may not result when appropriate prosecutions are taken.
The Minister mentioned dissident republicans.
A question please.
When we discussed the retention of certain sections of the Offences Against the State Act last year, everyone in the House renewed the call on these groups to cease their activities. We will renew it again. The Minister referred to section 8, which has not yet been used. In considering the entirety of the Offences Against the State Act, aspects of it do not work and are now being used for unintended purposes. We need to consider repealing this legislation. Elements of it are draconian and inappropriate for their purpose.
The Deputy cannot have it every which way. He cannot want to bring an end to the violence continuing to be perpetrated in Northern Ireland, particularly by recalcitrant terrorists, and bring an end to gun crime as engaged in by organised crime in the Republic. The Deputy cannot want all of that and at the same time want to repeal the Offences Against the State Act because it is part of the essential legal army available to the Garda Síochána and to the State to protect the law abiding citizens of this State. The Deputy cannot look in two different directions simultaneously.
In every piece of legislation enacted in the criminal law area there are certain parts of the legislation that are more regularly utilized than others and there are some parts of legislation enacted so as to provide additional protection should it be required. In the context of criminal investigations and prosecutions, in a number of instances there are alternative pieces of legislation that may be utilised depending on the overall background circumstances but this legislation has been part and parcel of a protective legislative architecture for the State and for the wider community for very many years and, as Minister for Justice and Equality, I will not be repealing it. If it requires amendment in some areas to make it more effective, that will happen. Over the years Governments of different political persuasions have brought forward appropriate amendments as circumstances have changed.
Is that something the Minister can examine?
62Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the position regarding the ongoing investigation into the Magdalene Laundry; in particular, if he will report to Dáil Éireann on the progress made to date on the Ministerial track of the investigation, item 2 as described in the Government’s statement; and if he will offer a commitment that the twin-tracks of the Government’s investigation are ongoing simultaneously, that he does not envisage them as consecutive that is the Ministerial track absolutely dependent on the conclusion of the Inter-Departmental Committee’s work. [14048/12]
The Government considered the circumstances of women and girls who resided in the laundries at its meeting on 14 June 2011 and decided that it was essential as a first step to fully establish the true facts and circumstances relating to the Magdalene laundries. A number of actions were agreed.
This included the setting up of an inter-departmental committee to establish the facts of State involvement with the Magdalene laundries, to clarify any State interaction, and to produce a narrative detailing such interaction. The committee, under the independent chairmanship of Senator Martin McAleese, has submitted an interim progress report and its final report is expected in the middle of this year.
In addition, the Government also decided that I and the Minister of State with responsibility for disability, equality, mental health and older people, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, should meet with the religious congregations and groups representing former residents of the Magdalene laundries to discuss among other things the question of availability of records, those still in the care of the religious congregations, and facilitating a restorative and reconciliation process.
I am pleased to say that meetings with all concerned took place some time ago. Progress has been made on the various issues including the question of a restorative and reconciliation process between individuals who had been in such institutions and the orders which ran the institutions in question. Matters have not yet been finalised but I hope to be in a position to make an announcement in the near future.
While some issues can and are being progressed, there are other issues which are dependent on the outcome of the work of the inter-departmental committee. I am conscious of the need to progress matters as quickly as possible. However, it is important to emphasise that we are in a process which is seeking to fully establish the facts and it is still too early at this stage to predict what the outcomes might be.
I look forward to receiving the committee's report when the very important work in which it is engaged has been concluded.
I thank the Minister for that reply. It sounds as if progress is being made but the Minister would have to agree that justice has been delayed far too long for these ladies. The Irish Human Rights Commission and the United Nations Committee Against Torture recommended an apology, redress and that a start would be made to facilitate restorative justice and nothing has happened on any of those recommendations. There has not been even an apology from the State, the Church, religious orders, families or society. Time is of the essence because of the age of these ladies. The Minister was horrified when I suggested previously there could have been a delaying tactic around this issue, and I was glad to hear that expressed. As soon as that report is available mid-year, will the Minister then be ready to commence the implementation of the apology, the redress and the restorative justice process?
I remind the Deputy that in November 2010 the Irish Human Rights Commission in its assessment of human rights issues arising in regard to the Magdalene Laundries stated:
... a statutory mechanism be established to investigate the matters advanced by the JFM, Justice For Magdalenes, and in appropriate cases to grant redress where warranted.
Such a mechanism should first examine the extent of the State's involvement in and responsibility for:
a) The girls and women entering the laundries
b) The conditions in the laundries
c) The manner in which girls and women left the laundries and
d) End-of life issues for those who remained.
In the event of State involvement and/or responsibility being established, that the statutory mechanism then advance to conducting a larger-scale review of what occurred.
The approach being taken by the interdepartmental committee is consistent with the recommendations of the Human Rights Commission.
As to the observations of the UN Committee Against Torture in May and June 2011, it recommended that there should be "thorough investigations into all allegations of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment that were allegedly committed in the Magdalene laundries and in appropriate cases prosecute and punish the perpetrators" and victims should have "an enforceable right to compensation".
Persons seeking an investigation with a view to a criminal prosecution should and can make a complaint to An Garda Síochána. As far as I know, no such complaint has been made. Under our legal system, the right to compensation for a tort is enforceable through civil proceedings in the courts. As far as I know, no such proceedings have been taken. It is of considerable importance that the work undertaken by Senator McAleese proceeds so that we get a full and clear narrative.
With regard to the Deputy's complaint about delays in dealing with this matter, the issue of the Magdalene laundries, the concerns surrounding those who resided within them and the manner in which they were treated have been in the public forum for many years and nothing was done about it. Within a short few weeks of being in government in June of last year, this matter was fully addressed by the Cabinet. Proposals were adopted and by July the interdepartmental committee was established. It has been doing very substantial work.
Together with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, I have met the religious orders, representative groups and others who are concerned about those who lived in the laundries. Some were there for a short few weeks, some for one or two years and others for many years. Many of the women who ended up being resident in the laundries in their late teens or early 20s came from all sorts of different places. Some were left there by their families in circumstances in which the State had no involvement of any description. This is not a simple issue but we are doing our best to address it in a thorough, comprehensive and sensitive way and we are engaging with all sides which are concerned about it.
I accept more has been done in the past year than previously. Many of the ladies concerned were deprived of dignity in their lives and are also being deprived of dignity in their deaths. The names on the gravestone in Glasnevin do not correlate to those given to the Department. The memorial in Bohermore in Galway has no names on it. The cross in the Mecklenburgh Magdalene laundry has the word "Penitent" on it. As soon as the report is available, will the Minister be in a position to start the process of redress and apology?
I am not going to prejudge what is in the report.
I presume there will be suggestions.
The reason that work is being done is so that there is a full and accurate narrative which people can rely on as being truthful and correct. The issues the Deputy raises are not issues directly derived from the conduct of the State. There are particular issues in the context of the religious orders.
A number of women who entered Magdalene laundries and remained there throughout their lives are now elderly and are being cared for by the religious orders in circumstances in which there are no family members caring for them. This is a very complicated background. It is not a simple, straightforward situation.
There are, of course, women who feel they were very badly treated and believe that their lives have been substantially blighted by that treatment. The report of the interdepartmental committee will provide us with the additional information we need. It will be published, considered by Government and appropriate decisions will be made arising out of it.
64Deputy Jonathan O’Brien asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans to update and consolidate legislation regarding crimes that are racially or ethnically motivated; and the steps he has taken to combat racism here. [14331/12]
Under our criminal law, it is an offence, inter alia, to use words, to publish or distribute written material, or to broadcast any visual images or sounds that are threatening, abusive or insulting and are intended or, having regard to all the circumstances, are likely to stir up hatred. The word “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”. All of these offences are contained in a single enactment, the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989. The State’s prosecutorial authorities have not brought to my notice any difficulties in bringing prosecutions under the 1989 Act.
Where criminal offences such as assault, criminal damage or public order offences are committed with a racist motive, they are prosecuted as generic offences through the wider criminal law. The trial judge can take aggravating factors, including racial motivation, into account at sentencing. In all the circumstances, I do not believe there is a need for consolidation of legislation or any other legislative initiatives in this area.
With regard to combating racism through other means, many of the initiatives which were instigated through the National Action Plan against Racism 2005-2008 continue to be developed and progressed through the support and work of the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration. For example, an arts and culture strategy and an intercultural education strategy were launched in September 2010, and a workplace diversity strategy is ongoing.
The focus now is on implementation of sectoral strategies. The Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration continues to work with many sectors, for example, An Garda Síochána, local authorities, sports bodies, Departments, the social partners and broader civil society, including cultural and ethnic minorities, to further progress the integration and diversity management agenda.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House
Let me pick just a few examples of recent anti-racism initiatives. Substantial funding has been provided to local authorities around the country. The funding supports local programmes that educate the public on issues such as immigration, integration and anti-racism. For instance, Dublin City Council ran an anti-racism campaign on the Dublin transport system in 2010 and 2011 using funding provided by the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration. Similarly, that office funded a non-governmental organisation called Show Racism the Red Card to run a creative competition for school children in 2010 and 2011. Funding has been also provided to the Holocaust Educational Trust for educational initiatives that teach children the dangers of racism and the importance of integration and tolerance.
The criminal law, on its own, is not sufficient to address racism. Other interventions are equally, if not more, important. The non-legislative actions I have mentioned represent substantial investment in social and educational measures and have the potential to reap greater dividends than criminal law measures.
The Minister stated judges can take aggravating factors, including racial motivation, into account when sentencing. However, one of the issues that arises is that they do not have to do so. This needs to be resolved. Leaving it to the discretion of the judge is a mistake.
Do we know the number of people who have been prosecuted under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act 1989 and the number of racially motivated crimes reported to the Office for the Promotion of Migrant Integration?
The Deputy is correct that judges have discretion but, in determining sentencing with regard to any crime once there is a conviction, a judge should take into account the overall background circumstances. Certainly, where there are aggravating circumstances, be they related to a racist motive, incitement to hatred or other matters, one would expect the Judiciary to take them into account. However, the Judiciary is independent and exercises a discretion based on the overall circumstances of the case as to what type of sentence to impose. It would be particularly difficult in legislation to delineate one particular matter - racism - as an aggravating factor and not to delineate a broad range of others. I am sure Deputy O'Brien could, in a few moments, think of a number of other aggravating circumstances in the perpetration of a crime. Therefore, unless we are going to enact legislation that tries, in a Schedule, to delineate every possible combination and permutation of aggravating circumstances, there is a difficulty.
I have detailed statistics and will furnish a copy of them to the Deputy in writing. I will give him a flavour of them by outlining the numbers of reported racist crimes in each year in the period 2003 to 2010: 2003, 64; 2004, 68; 2005, 100; 2006, 173; 2007, 214; 2008, 172; 2009, 128; and 2010, 122. I have statistics on what I would describe as racist incidents broken down into various categories for each of these years, covering everything from minor assault to assault causing harm and offences under the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act. I will make those statistics available to the Deputy.
I thank the Minister for his reply. I understand what he said about aggravating circumstances and taking that into account. He used words in his reply such as "should", expect" and "can". When it comes to racism, however, there can be no exceptions. It needs to be one of the factors taken into account in sentencing. The State's response to the UPR, universal periodic review, recommendations stated it would be unconstitutional to introduce sentencing guidelines for racially motivated crimes. Was this on the advice of the Attorney General?
The response was based on the appropriate response for the Government to make in consultation with various Departments. I want to make it absolutely clear that there is no acceptance of racism, nor should there be, by any of us in this State, the Government or on the Opposition side. We do not want racism in our country and neither do we want people engaging in it. The very essence of the citizenship ceremony is a public indication of the extent to which we as a society want to embrace as part of our Irish community those who have come to this country from other countries.
This Government will not tolerate racism. If it is the view that some legislation is required to strengthen our laws in this area, legislation will be enacted. One of the most effective measures to counter racism is education and engagement in the very heart of those communities in which there are people from various backgrounds and nationalities living. The simple continued enactment of more criminal law is not the solution. The armoury is there in our criminal legislation to prosecute those who engage in incitement to hatred.
Thank you, Minister.
Other legislation can be utilised, for example, as detailed in the reply, in circumstances of assault.
There will be no tolerance of racism. Both the Minister of State, Deputy Kathleen Lynch, and I will continue to do what we can do within our remit to ensure racism, so far as it can be stamped out, is stamped out. Other Departments and various civil society bodies have an important role to play in educating people to recognise the value and importance of cultural diversity. Much of that is already happening in our school system. Good work is being done at both primary and secondary level in those areas.
