Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me to raise this matter on the Adjournment and the Minister of State for being present.
The Programme for Government agreed between the three Government parties approximately one year ago gave a broad commitment to a fundamental reform of the court system from District to Supreme Court level and the modernisation of the criminal justice code to take account of new methods of information gathering, judicial skills, use of video and audio equipment etc. I acknowledge the progress made in these areas during the past year but it is fair to say that any of the unacceptable delays in the civil and criminal courts have been a matter of discussion and deliberation by way of reports and debates inside and outside the House for some time.
The absence of firm statistics, or doubts about the statistics which have been published, is totally unacceptable during these days of modern technology. When this matter was raised previously by Deputies on all sides of the House the Ministers for Justice of the day gave a stock reply to the effect that the cost of providing these basic crime statistics and information on them would be excessive. In the context of the need for a root and branch reform of our criminal justice system this reply is bizarre. In recent years there have been great advances in the House in the area of information technology and it is difficult to understand why a procedure has not been put in place in the criminal justice system, which could allow for the compilation of statistics and analysis of them without the Minister saying that the cost involved would be excessive. If reform of the type needed is to be carried out then we must start from a baseline and I cannot think of any more important baseline than the provision of basic statistical information.
I am sure the Minister and the Minister of State will agree that the type of statistics to which I am referring are essential for the proper administration and development of the criminal justice system. Society has charged us with the responsibility of ensuring that we have an efficient criminal justice system. A strategic information technology plan must be developed and put in place within the criminal justice system to allow for the compilation of these essential statistics and facts. We will not be able to achieve the necessary reform of the criminal justice system without this basic information. It should be possible for elected Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas and interested groups such as the Probation and Welfare Service, the Garda Síochána and other bodies involved in the administration of justice to tap in on a daily and ongoing basis to up-to-date and accurate statistics which, unfortunately, are not available at present.