I am glad of the opportunity to debate the Estimates for the Department of Justice. We have already made a few attempts to get the debate going and I am glad we have now succeeded.
On a practical point, and having taken on board what the Chairman said, I have a script which is available. However, if Members do not mind I will touch on each of the paragraphs rather than reading them fully so we will have more time for a debate rather than statements.
Before we proceed to the detail of the Department of Justice Vote, I want to say a few words about the horrific and appalling attack on two detective gardaí in County Limerick last Friday. I express once again my sincere sympathy to the family of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe who was so brutally murdered. I also wish to express my good wishes and prayers to Detective Garda Ben O'Sullivan who was seriously injured. I have had an opportunity to see his family and the family of the late Detective Garda Jerry McCabe. On facing those people one understands the enormity of the tragedy that has befallen them. All members of the committee will join me in utterly condemning that brutal attack and expressing sympathy to the families. At tragic times such as this we are reminded of the huge debt we owe members of the Garda Síochána who put their lives at risk daily in the course of their duty in protecting our property and the security of the State. It is easy for us to be caught up in our own lives when we know that members of the Garda Síochána protect us. These two gardaí were doing that and, as a result, one of them lost his life. I know the sympathy of the committee is with the two families.
Moving on to the topic under discussion today, the total sum published in the Estimates in respect of the Department of Justice Vote is £614.318 million. This is an increase of £41 million over last year's outturn and underlines the Government's commitment to tackling crime. In its policy document A Government of Renewal, published in December 1994, the Government indicated it would press ahead with a programme of reform of the justice system. In the time since that policy document was published, I have tackled deficiencies in the areas encompassed by the Department of Justice group of Votes. Problems have existed to some extent in this area for a considerable length of time and, while calls have been made on successive Governments for solutions to be brought forward, it is evident that until now such calls did not meet a sufficiently resolute response. I will outline several areas where I have implemented initiatives.
In January 1996 I announced the establishment of the Garda Síochána regionalisation plan. That encompasses setting up a regional structure for areas outside the Dublin metropolitan area. This will achieve greater operational focus in Garda operations. I have also set up the Garda national bureau of fraud investigation, the first ever dedicated bureau of fraud investigation. It has been provided with new premises at Harcourt Square and all the necessary technology required to assist in the detection of fraud has been made available. A civilian accountant has been appointed to the bureau and there are ongoing discussions about further civilian appointments. The automatic fingerprinting system, which cost £1.8 million, has been installed and is operational in Garda headquarters. It will reduce the amount of time required to identify fingerprints from 500 man hours to 10 minutes. That is an enormous advantage for the Garda Síochána. The committee will be aware that I recently obtained approval to set up an air support unit for the Garda Síochána. I have provided £200,000 for that purpose this year and at present a technical group is preparing tender specifications for the purchase of the aircraft involved, a helicopter and a fixed wing aircraft.
There have been many debates on the drugs issue so I will not go into detail about the subject again. The package of measures I announced last July contained not just legislative proposals but a number of practical arrangements that had to be implemented to tackle the scourge of drugs. Many of the elements of that package have been put in place. The drug trafficking legislation currently before this committee will give the Garda the extra powers, subject to appropriate safeguards, it requires to deal with this menace.
It is vital — we have debated this issue many times — that we target the proceeds of crime, including the moneys made from drug trafficking. I signed a commencement order under the Criminal Justice Act, 1994, implementing the anti-money laundering provisions of the Act. This Act is already proving a valuable weapon in the fight against crime. The Director of Public Prosecutions recently secured a restraint order under the provisions of the Act following arrests made in connection with suspected drug dealing. I understand its provisions relating to disclosure of information regarding suspicious transactions are being complied with to great effect. More than 300 disclosures have been made by financial institutions to the Garda authorities under the provisions of the Act and the lodgments are being investigated to see if there is a connection between them and serious crime.
Another important development regarding the Criminal Justice Act has been the approval by the Dáil and the Seanad of draft regulations which I have drawn up under section 44 of the Act. The regulations will come into force tomorrow and will enable the Garda Síochána and customs and excise officers to seize and detain cash being imported into or exported from the State, where the amount is of a value of £5,000 or more and where the garda or customs and excise officer has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the cash is derived from, or intended to be used in, drug trafficking. Any cash so seized can be detained and forfeited by order of a court.
The courts system has seen little change since it was first established and, despite every effort by many dedicated staff to provide a reasonable level of service, the system is failing in some respects to meet changing and ever-increasing demands. The substantial level of delays in the hearing of cases has been a major concern for some time and I am satisfied that the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995 will go a long way in enabling the courts to tackle the present delays and to efficiently and effectively dispose of cases coming before them. Under the provisions of that Act, 15 additional judges will be appointed in 1996. Three additional Supreme Court Judges and three additional High Court Judges have already been appointed. The Act also contains provisions which introduced administrative and procedural reforms to simplify and speed up the processing of cases through the courts and enhance their overall efficiency.
It is clear that more fundamental reforms are required and for that reason I established the working group on a courts commission, under the chairmanship of Mrs. Justice Susan Denham, to examine the overall operation of the courts system. The Government has accepted in principle the recommendation of that working group that an independent and permanent body be established to manage a unified courts system. This body will be known as the Courts Service and will be set up by statute as an agency of the State. The report recommends that the service will be managed on a day to day basis by a chief executive officer of departmental Secretary rank.
As a result of that decision, the working group has been asked to submit further reports on how the establishment of a new courts service can be progressed. The working group will also continue its work in accordance with its terms of reference to review the day to day operation of the courts system and will submit further reports before the summer on other elements of the courts system that require modification. This will occur even before we establish the new courts service. I take this opportunity to express my appreciation of the commitment and dedication of Mrs. Justice Susan Denham and her colleagues. She has informed me of the enormous efforts made by the members of the working group and she looks forward to continuing to work with them until further fundamental changes take place in the courts system.
The committee will be aware of the drugs problem and pressure on accommodation in our prisons. It will also be aware — although it is not the nature of the Opposition to give the Government credit — that I have put in place a series of measures aimed at both preventing drugs getting into prisons and providing necessary treatment for drug addicted prisoners. With regard to the measures to aid prisoners who wish to shake their habit, the drug free unit has now commenced operation. Testing and so forth takes place there on a daily basis. The new drug treatment facility will provide up to date treatment for prisoners who are found to be suffering from serious drug addiction. The bulk of prisoners suffering from drug addiction problems arrive in prison with those problems. I will not say that nobody starts taking drugs when they are in prison but the majority of the people who are involved in drugs inside prison already had the habit when they arrived. The new drug treatment facility will provide detoxification, methadone maintenance and the delivery of an integrated drug therapy programme to assist addicts to full recovery.
On the accommodation front, as Members will know, I announced a package at the end of January this year for an additional £3.7 million in the budget which, added to the £14.5 million for building and maintenance, has been provided in the Estimate for works in the current year. It is planned to provide 278 additional prison places under this programme between now and the middle of next year. Already, 68 of these places have been brought into use at St. Patrick's Institution and Mountjoy. Construction works for the new special unit for 25 offenders at Castlerea and for the conversion of the military detention unit at the Curragh for 68 offenders are under way and will come into use later this year. Plans to create an additional 105 places at Portlaoise Prison and 55 places in a replacement wing for the closed down derelict wing at Limerick Prison are at a very advanced stage and these works will commence as soon as possible. In the slightly longer term, planning for the new women's prison for 60 offenders, beside Mountjoy Prison, and for the main prison development at Castlerea, are being progressed and there are moneys in this year's Estimates to do so.
In relation to legislation, the Courts and Court Officers Act has been passed. The Criminal Law (Incest Proceedings) Act dealt quickly and efficiently with a difficulty which came to light about the reporting of court proceedings. The Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Bill is currently before this committee and the Criminal Law Bill which tackles the problem of outmoded distinctions, has been dealt with on Second Stage in the Dáil and is now coming to this committee for Committee Stage.
Other measures are currently being drafted. A Non-fatal Offences against the Person Bill will update our law in this area. The Children Bill is with the Attorney General and will represent the most fundamental legislative reform in the area of juvenile justice since the foundation of the State. I recently obtained approval from Government to have a Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill drafted. I have been concerned since I became Minister about the need to bring greater efficiency to criminal procedures. There has been folklore, gossip and talk about ineffective operations in our courts, gardaí etc., yet nobody did anything about them. I am doing something about them in the Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, which will contain a number of measures to problems such as Garda time wasted in connection with court proceedings. There is also the issue of bringing prisoners to courts where they have been first sent to prison. Often a day is taken up in travelling just to get someone remanded in a one minute hearing. Year after year, I have heard people criticising the courts and the law system yet nobody has done anything about it. Something is being done now that will speed up the whole process.
In dealing with crime I do not have the luxury of Opposition Members. I have to be sure of the nature and extent of the problem in taking on methods and efforts to tackle crime. All too often, the debate on crime takes place in the aftermath of one particular incident. While this is understandable, it does very little to develop our understanding of the nature of the crime problem in general and what must be done by society as a whole to respond. There is a need for an informed public debate on the issue as Members of the House, the Commissioner and others have said. My Department will facilitate this debate by preparing and publishing a discussion paper on crime on the general lines of the paper already published on prison policy.
In addition, I have announced my intention to establish a Crime Council, where we can bring together statutory and voluntary agencies with the business community, trade unions, professions and other community interests. They can sit down together and discuss crime issues in an informed way. Often, what is one person's solution to their area of crime creates a problem for another section of law-abiding society. We must make sure we have a more comprehensive, unified debate on what are the right mechanisms which will not cause problems for others. I have been looking at the type of structures in place in other countries — for example in Denmark where a broadly based council has been in existence for some time — so we can learn from them.
In relation to statistics, it is important I know the nature and extent of crime. A good starting point in considering the crime problem is to look at the figures. The level of crime overall has been on the increase since 1990 and provisional figures for the year ended 31 December 1995 indicate that this trend continued in 1995. Provisional figures available for 1996, incidentally, suggest that the overall level of reported crime may now, in fact, be dropping. While this is welcome and encouraging news, it would be prudent to await final figures for the year as a whole lest we draw unwarranted comfort from what the provisional figures appear to be telling us. Returning to the 1995 statistics, the number of reported crimes increased by 1 per cent on 1994 — not very high, but nonetheless an increase. Let us examine the figures.
In relation to the Dublin Metropolitan Area (DMA) the incidence of burglary — which accounts for one crime in three — decreased by 5 per cent overall in 1995. Aggravated burglary and robbery involving the use of firearms also decreased — this time by 12 per cent. These decreases were offset largely by an increase of 17 per cent in larcenies from unattended vehicles. In fact, this type of offence has been a major influence in the increase in crime witnessed in recent years.
I am happy provisional figures indicate that crime outside the DMA — that is taking all the divisions outside Dublin together — decreased in 1995. The increase has been in the DMA. This may not be in accordance with the perception and the headlines, but it is the reality. I am not taking this as a reason for complacency.
The incidence of burglary outside Dublin decreased by 6 per cent overall in 1995. However, as with Dublin, there was an increase of 4 per cent in larcenies from unattended vehicles throughout the country.
I am particularly concerned about the upward trend in the level of sexual crimes, particularly in the categories of rape and sexual assault which has been a feature of crime statistics in recent years. The number of reported rapes in the country as a whole increased by 28 per cent in 1995. We cannot say whether this upward trend is the result of a real increase in the incidence of sexual crime or an increased tendency to report sexual crimes. There has been a reluctance by people to report sexual crimes, perhaps because of the way they were handled by the gardaí or the courts, or because they did not want to go public. It is likely that both factors contribute to the increased statistics.
The downward trend in the commission of serious crime involving the use of firearms continued in 1995 — there was a decrease of 7 per cent in the country as a whole and 12 per cent in the DMA for 1995. This is to be welcomed.
I have commented on some detailed aspects of the crime figures because it is important to look closely at the facts. We owe it to the public to ensure that our comments on crime — and we all understand the seriousness of the situation — are based on fact, not on hype or perception.
There is one other important point I want to make about the crime figures. Offences against the person — and this covers offences such as murder, sexual offences and assault — make up a small proportion of overall crime. In 1994, for instance, the last year for which complete figures have been published, there were 1,327 offences against the person out of a total of 101,036 indictable offences recorded — in other words about 1.3 per cent of the total. There is a very high detection rate for these crimes and it is right we should commend the gardaí in this regard. In 1994, for instance there were 1,080 detections for offences against the person. In making these points, I am not seeking to minimise the seriousness of these offences or say that we have nothing to worry about simply because the numbers are perhaps lower than one would be led to believe. We have to keep the problem in perspective. It is of little consolation to the victims of crime here that crime in many other Western countries is much worse. However, it is important to recognise that the increase in crime here is part of a worldwide trend. Throughout the world, there is widespread recognition that we must tackle the root causes of crime if we are to obtain a meaningful long-term reduction in crime.
There is a danger that people are automatically accused of being soft on criminals if they begin to look at the more deep-seated reasons that crime becomes more of an issue each year. Those who commit crime must understand that their behaviour will not be tolerated in our society and they will pay a price. However, we cannot be blind to the fact that many of those who commit crime come from a depressingly similar social background.
These factors can never excuse crime but they help to explain it and perhaps also help to put in place policies that might minimise the routes through which these people come into crime. That is why we in the Department of Justice have put in place programmes to divert people from crime. I have spoken about these often and through our Garda and probation and welfare service community-based programmes are working very well for that purpose.
Vote 19 is for the Office of the Minister for Justice. It encompasses the data protection commissioner, the Garda Complaints Board, the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal, the forensic science laboratory, funding for criminal legal aid and for the payment of grants, including a contribution to the expenses of the Irish Association for Victim Support. The Estimate is £28.268 million and represents a 21 per cent increase on the outturn of 1995.
The committee will note that the 1996 provision for criminal legal aid is £9 million and the outturn for 1995 is expected to be £7.988 million. This is a 13 per cent increase above the actual expenditure for 1994. This trend and the continuing increase in the number of claims have been taken into account in the framing of the 1996 Estimates.
Members will also note that under a new subhead, A 10, we have an Estimate to cope with increased expenses arising from the EU Presidency. The main priority for the Presidency in my Department is the advancement of work on the drugs issue and this greatly extends the remit of our co-operation in the European Union forum. A wideranging schedule of meetings, totalling 115, in relation to Justice and Home Affairs matters is planned, including an informal meeting of Justice and Home Affairs Ministers which I will be hosting in September.
Subhead G of this Vote relates to the proposed refugee applications commissioner and the refugee appeal board which will be established following the enactment of the Refugee Bill, 1995. It was passed in the Dáil and is still going through a rather long process in the Seanad. Until the Bill is passed I cannot make any further progress on it.
Subhead F is for the office of the data protection commissioner. The committee will be interested to note that as a result of a campaign conducted by the data commissioner to get more data controllers to register there were 300 new registrations during 1995. A new registration fee structure has been introduced with effect from 19 May 1996 to provide a more balanced fee structure. This followed complaints from small firms with small numbers of employees. We have scaled the fee so the bigger firms pay a larger fee for registering.
The provision for the Garda in Vote 20 is £425.672 million. This represents an increase of £19 million over last year's outturn. Apart from increased salary costs the additional funding will be spent on the implementation of the recommendations included in the commissioner's corporate strategy for 1993-1997. I am glad to say that a number of these initiatives have been implemented and work on the remainder is progressing. Garda recruitment is continuing at the same level as in 1995 and 700 Garda trainees will be recruited this year and next year.
There is a provision of £7.74 million for the current phase of the Garda information technology plan, a four-year programme costing £26 million. Since the plan was approved in 1993 work has continued on developing the major part of the plan from the conceptual design stage to the issuing of a request for tenders and final selection of a preferred supplier.
There is provision for £2.46 million for capital expenditure on communications equipment. The development of a new Dublin metropolitan area voice and data network will be the main item of expenditure from this provision. Without going into detail, it will allow much more co-ordinated and effective communication between groups of gardaí in the work they are doing and it will allow extensions of projects such as the CCTV, which I will mention later.
A considerable amount of investment has been made in improving Garda accommodation in recent years. In the two years 1995-96 in which I have been involved some £17 million has been allocated. This year alone nearly £9 million has been allocated, £3.1 million of which is included in the Garda Vote for maintenance with the balance in subhead E of the Vote for the Office of Public Works for major capital and refurbishment projects.
In 1995 as a consequence of having allocated additional funds from the Garda Vote a significant number of major works were carried out. There are new Garda headquarters and stations at Raheny, Donnybrook, Castleblayney, Creeslough, Convoy, Listowel, Ramelton, Edenderry, Dunleer, Partry, Freshford and Rhode. These works could not have been carried out without my having diverted extra funds towards them. This confirms my commitment to eliminating accommodation problems. Many Deputies will attest to the fact that it will still take some time to eliminate the accommodation problems.
I am providing funding for the youth diversion projects. I made reference to those earlier, as well as the need to take young people out of the pathway of crime which very many of them enter when they are as young as five and six years of age. We have eight urban-based schemes currently in operation and I am providing for the establishment of a further two this year. The schemes involve the participation of gardaí, voluntary groups, the business community and local youths and I am very heartened by the level of their success.
CCTV as an aid to policing has been established in the Temple Bar area and I am providing further funding this year for the expansion of this scheme. Work on a system in the O'Connell Street area of Dublin has already commenced.
There is provision in the prisons Vote for a total of £117.9 million. This represents an increase of £9.8 million or 9 per cent over the 1995 outturn. The single biggest provision under subhead A of £74.3 million is for wages, salaries and allowances and this is £0.57 million higher than 1995. Subhead A covers basic pay, overtime and allowances.
The committee will no doubt be aware that there has been significant expenditure on overtime in recent years. The outturn for 1995 was £16.24 million. The provision for 1996 is £13.5 million. This is a decrease of £2.7 million or 17 per cent below the 1995 outturn. I accept that is still a significant amount of money. However, the nature of the service provided by the prison service means that demands for staff cannot always be planned. Demands within prisons, and the need for escort of prisoners to and from courts, hospitals and between prisons, must be responded to as they arise and very often necessitate the recall of staff to work overtime. Members will recall what I said about the criminal justice legislation. It represents an effort to cut down on the amount of overtime that will be needed to bring people long distances to court for one minute appearances.
The Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act has come into effect and as a result we are receiving and processing requests for transfer. Approximately 100 Irish people serving sentences abroad have expressed an interest in transferring. The bulk of applications under the convention — some 89 — are from Irish prisoners serving sentences in England. There are six in the US and four in Northern Ireland. Applications are also being processed from 26 foreign prisoners in Irish prisons who have expressed interest in a transfer to their country of origin. Most of these — some 16 — are from England and seven are from Northern Ireland. To date three prisoners have been transferred into this jurisdiction.
In the area of community-based alternatives to prison there is a provision of £2.89 million in my Estimate for 1996 for voluntary bodies involved in the provision and operation of hostels for offenders and running of workshops. This is an increase of 11 per cent on 1995.
In the courts Vote there is an estimate of £26.6 million. This again is an increase of £4.3 million or 19 per cent over the 1995 outturn. I am aware that the many of the courthouses fail to provide the facilities necessary for person, members of the legal profession and the court staff. In the light of that I have included an extra allocation of £7.39 million for capital and maintenance projects this year.
I am also very much aware of the need to provide facilities for family law business. That was mentioned on the radio this morning. I need facilities to allow conferring and family law cases to take place in private and confidential surroundings. I am ensuring that we provide the best facilities in the refurbishment programmes that we are carrying out at present. All new major court refurbishment includes family rooms and will also include user friendly facilities such as places for the victim support groups. The courts service must be more user friendly and in that regard a range of information leaflets are in the course of preparation for the benefit of child and adult witnesses and the parents of child witnesses. These leaflets, which will be issued shortly, will explain court procedures in a user friendly way. I am committed to providing a court service which is speedy, accessible and just and I will continue to take the necessary measures.
Turning to Vote 23 for the Land Registry, £15,608 million is being provided in 1996. This represents a 19 per cent increase on the 1995 outturn. Considerable investment is being made in computerisation and information technology. Members will know that the service now being provided by the Land Registry is far quicker than when I came into to the Dáil in 1981 when people told me about two to five year delays. Even getting information from the Land Registry was very difficult, but that has changed. The Department has been made aware of that by the lack of parliamentary questions being asked. This used to represent a high percentage of questions.
The committee will be aware it has been decided to relocate part of the Land Registry operations to Waterford. About 150 staff will be relocated there. I understand the Office of Public Works anticipates that a contract will shortly be signed with the developer of the office complex to house the Land Registry office in Waterford with the accommodation expected to be ready for occupation by the end of 1997.
Vote 24, in respect of the Office of Charitable Donations and Bequests, is the final one. The provision in 1996 is £210,000.
I thank the committee for allowing me this opportunity to go through the Estimates for the Department of Justice. As we progress through the debate today, I am sure we will be able to tease out some of the issues. I understand Members in their opening statements will trawl through a range of issues, but I will try to confine my answers to issues raised in relation to particular Votes even if Members ask me wider questions.
