I want to thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for the opportunity to raise this matter. Perhaps it is an indication of my lack of information but I did not know much about the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal or the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted, as it was set up in 1974, until somebody approached me last year. People like myself who have the dubious privilege of defending the liberal position on the whole law and order issue take a particular interest in the challenge that is presented to us as to what we would do about the question of law and order. That is why I sought permission to raise the difficulties experienced by members of the public in obtaining information about application forms for the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. It seems to me that this tribunal represented a constructive response to the trauma suffered by people who were the victims of criminal injury and what I have often described before as the often well-manipulated hysteria, manipulated both by sections of the media and by certain politicians, some of them close to Government and regrettably on occasions in Government, who find it an easy issue on which to gain kudos for themselves.
Because of the hysteria associated with it, my attention was focussed somewhat on this tribunal. After a long saga which is relevant to what I have to say here, and which I will recount at some length in a moment, I managed to come upon the terms of reference of this tribunal and something about its procedures. The more I found out the more I became concerned that members of the public were running into something close to an obstacle race in getting through to this tribunal.
For the record — and I quote from the document laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas in February 1974 — the tribunal may pay:
ex gratia compensation in accordance with this scheme in respect of personal injury where the injury is directly attributable to a crime of violence, or is provided for in paragraph 4 in circumstances arising from the action of the victim in assisting or attempting to assist the prevention of crime or the saving of human life.
That is a fine institution, a fine idea, obviously both worthwhile and necessary. Nevertheless questions arise as to who knows about it. Neither Deputies nor Senators nor anybody else knew much about it, and its procedures, or how to go about dealing with it. I wonder do victims know about it. I will come back to this point later because there seems to be some evidence that they do not. I even wonder how many members of the Garda know about its operation because, from what I have heard from people who were unfortunate enough to be the victims of criminal assault, the gardaí do not know much about it. It is a pity because a scheme which is so sensible, helpful and practical ought to be better known.
It came to a head when an acquaintance in Cork who was endeavouring to make a claim found that his letters were going unanswered. His phone calls elicited promises of immediate action which never materialised. I was asked to get involved. I found similar difficulties with phone communications. Eventually somebody who assists me in these matters called down to Pembroke Street assuming there was some problem. He rang the doorbell and a disembodied voice answered through an answering service with the door firmly locked in his face. He was first of all asked what his business was. He said he was working for me and he wanted some application forms. The female voice, obviously the secretary involved, said there were none, they were out of print, and she did not know when they would be available. This was from a body which is supposed to be one of the major protections and supports for the victims of criminal injury.
I wrote and eventually got a reply. To confirm that I am not in any way misleading the House, when I finally received the reply I got a written in statement saying: "Apologies for delay due to lack of a new supply of forms". This was from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. I find that less than enthusiastic response to an inquiry from a member of the public and the delay in replying astonishing when you consider that you are dealing with people who may have been severely traumatised by a criminal injury of one kind or another, who may perhaps be elderly — many of the unfortunate victims of crime are elderly — who in a tragic case where somebody has been severely injured or killed, may be applying under very distressful circumstances. To come across a disembodied voice answering through a locked door is less than sympathetic.
This is not an insignificant body. In 1984 it paid out almost £2,400,000 in compensation. In 1985 the provision in the Estimates amounts to almost £4 million, an increase of 71 per cent. Obviously a considerable increase in criminal injuries is anticipated. It deals with a reasonable number of people. There were 850 awards made in 1983, and 450 in 1982. It is peculiar, nevertheless, that the last report made by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal is for the year ended 1981. There are no later reports. Notwithstanding its obligation under its terms of reference to make such reports, no reports were laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas later than 1981. This suggests that it is less than properly organised, less than properly run, and less than adequately responsive to the needs of the public.
A question was asked in the Dáil by Deputy Mary Harney on 12 December. I quote from the Official Report, dated 12 December 1984, column 2453, where she asked a number of questions, one being would the Minister agree to extend the number of places and the number of sources from which application forms could be made available. She suggested Garda stations, post offices, legal aid centres and public offices of the Department of Health and Social Welfare, which appeared to be reasonable given what is involved, given that there is in the opinion of many people a crime wave. I do not agree with that view, but those who take that view are in the overwhelming majority, both in this House and in the other House. Given all of that, one would have thought an immediate positive response would be forthcoming. The Minister's reply was somewhat different. I quote:
Application forms are available from the tribunal. I am not aware that this leads to any hardship since the forms will be sent or given out in response to a simple letter or a telephone call—
I have recounted my own and another individual's experience in that regard and not just an isolated occasion but over a period of time.
—or, for anybody who happens to be near at hand, to a personal caller.
I have already explained to the House what happened to a person who tried that approach. The Minister goes on to state:
While I would not exclude the possibility of some other small number of offices keeping the forms as well, if a real need for doing so were shown, the Deputy will appreciate from the relatively small numbers who apply that it would involve a wholly disproportionate amount of administrative waste for such forms to be stocked in offices as suggested, the staff of which would have the task of storing and keeping them available on the offchance that somebody might, sometime, look for one.
Do we or do we not have this overwhelming crime wave that I have been hearing about? I have been fairly well knocked on the head by at least two national newspapers for attempting to suggest that we should calm down. If we do have this overwhelming crime wave, people are entitled to the best possible response from the State. If we do not have this crime wave, then perhaps we should all calm down. It is interesting that the total number of claimants, even including those who withdrew claims subsequently, to the compensation tribunal amounted to less than 50 per cent of the number of people who reported offences against the person to the gardaí in 1983. It appears that half of those who, on a very superficial look at the Garda Commissioner's report were actually assaulted and, therefore, had some sort of injury inflicted upon them, did not even bother to apply. Either the offences were so minor — which I suspect is not the case — or else — which I suspect is far more likely — people did not know that such a thing as the Criminal Injury Compensation Tribunal existed and therefore did not apply. If, as I suspect, the second case is the more likely, if people did not know about it, it seems inadequate that the present organisation and structure should continue.
A poster should be placed in every Garda station, in every health centre, in every doctor's surgery and so on. A vast budget has been devoted, quite rightly, to the Neighbourhood Watch Scheme. Part of that publicity budget could be used to alert people to their rights and to minimise their difficulties in obtaining information and application forms. Forms should be available from Garda stations. That seems to me to be an obvious source for these application forms. That is where people must report an offence before they can be eligible for compensation. The courts, post offices and welfare services would be other obvious sources. It is not a huge issue of policy, it is not a huge issue which will settle the crime problem but it appears that fairly efficient access to sympathetic consideration of material compensation for damage inflicted would be a contribution to people's worries and people's fears about criminal injury and criminal assault. It appears to me that it is either an attempt to minimise recourse to this tribunal, which would be most regrettable, or else simply a sloppy administration which has created the present position. It is definitely sloppily administered as it stands. In dealing with the public it is far from adequate and it is quite extraordinary that the forms were not even available and certainly that there was a number of weeks delay before they became available.
It all adds up to a conclusion that this small but important agency, small but to the people who manage to get their way through the obstacles, an agency that can be a source of fairly reasonable compensation for their injuries, could alleviate the problem if the public could get access easily and efficiently to application forms. I appeal to the Minister of State to ensure that the necessary administrative decisions are taken. It is not a matter of policy, there is no question of extra expenditure, it is simply a question of making an administrative decision that for the future this scheme will be better publicised, that the Garda will be aware of it, that solicitors will be aware of it and that anybody who goes to a Garda station, alleges assault and makes a complaint, will be informed that one of the courses open to him or her is to make a claim for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal. To do otherwise would be to confirm my perhaps malicious suspicion that many people in Irish politics have made a lot of mileage out of crime and out of the sufferings of the victims of crime but that the real actual detail of doing something to help them is not something that concerns them too much.
