Vol. 421 No. 2
3 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Justice the current position with regard to implementing the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission contained in their report on offences under the Dublin Police Acts and related offences; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
As already indicated in the House recently, consideration is being given in my Department at present to the question of the implementation of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission in their report on offences under the Dublin Police Acts and related offences in a proposed Criminal Justice Bill. The emphasis is on the public order aspects of the commission's report, but it is the intention to take in other aspects as well, as appropriate. I propose to publish my proposals in a Criminal Justice Bill in the near future.
Would the Minister agree that there has been a substantial increase in crime in Dublin, particularly in the past two years, that there is widespread concern about that increase and that the implementation of the report of the Law Reform Commission, published in 1985, is an urgent necessity so that the Garda have available to them details of up to date offences and the courts have available to them relevant penalties that can be imposed in the fight against crime in Dublin and in other urban areas?
I accept that there has been an increase in crime in the past two years. As the Deputy says, it is desirable that the Garda have the necessary legislative framework to deal with the problem. That is what is intended. When the proposals are announced in the Criminal Justice Bill that I have in mind the Deputy will, I think, be pleased.
Would the Minister equally agree that it is nominally bordering on the ridiculous to have in legislation applicable to Dublin a provision that makes it a criminal offence to empty any privy between the hours of 6 a.m. and 12 midnight or to keep a pigsty to the front of any street or road within the Dublin metropolitan area? Would the Minister agree that such anachronistic legislation requires urgent reform? Could the Minister say exactly when the new Criminal Justice Bill will come before the House? Will it be published before the vacation of the House for the summer or will it be published in the autumn? Would the Minister say whether it is envisaged that that Bill will be fully processed by the Houses of the Oireachtas before the end of this year?
Certainly I consider that some elements of the 1872 legislation are a little out of date. It is my intention to give this matter urgent priority. It is a priority item on my legislative programme. Rather than saying that the Bill will be published before the end of this term, it would be preferable for me to say that it is my firm intention to have the legislation cleared through the House before the end of 1992.
