Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 1 Oct 1997

Vol. 480 No. 7

Adjournment Debate. - Assault on Spanish Student.

Ms Shortall

I thank the Minister for coming into the House this evening to reply to this matter. It concerns an extremely serious incident which occurred in the Phibsboro area in my constituency yesterday in which a young Spanish student was brutally attacked and badly injured. Two muggers on a motorbike attacked her in an attempt to snatch her handbag.

I extend good wishes to the young woman for a full and early recovery and I hope the perpetrators are brought to justice. My reason for raising this incident is that I believe it is part of a growing trend for this type of criminal to target visitors to this country. They are being targeted for two reasons — first, visitors tend to carry money and, second, and more important, the inherent delays in processing crimes of this type. It has become widely known among the criminal community that if they carry out an attack on a visitor they are unlikely to be brought to justice prior to the visitor leaving the country, thereby greatly reducing the chances of victims giving evidence.

I acknowledge the developments that have taken place in assisting and comforting foreign visitors who have been the victims of such attacks, but action must be taken in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform to speed up the processing of these incidents thereby bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Two approaches could be taken in this regard. Has the Minister given any consideration to a fast tracking system for incidents of this nature to enable them be dealt with as speedily as possible before the victims leave the country? Alternatively, will he consider introducing a mechanism whereby evidence could be given by deposition to ensure the victim would not be requested to return to this country to give evidence when the case is heard? Because yesterday's incident, which was extremely serious, is part of a growing trend, this matter needs early attention.

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

I thank Deputy Shortall for raising this matter in the House and I join with her in extending good wishes for a speedy recovery to the young lady who was the subject of this unwarranted and disgraceful attack.

As the Deputy will be aware, the long-standing practice of this House is that the Minister does not comment in detail on individual Garda investigations except where the circumstances of an investigation are so exceptional that the making of statements by the Minister or other Members of the House is deemed appropriate.

I hope Deputy Shortall and other Deputies will appreciate that I am somewhat constrained by what I can say about this case. I trust Deputies will also understand that the reason for this is the interests of justice for both the victim and for any person who may be charged in respect of alleged offences so require.

I can tell the House, however, that the Garda authorities have this afternoon advised me that two individuals have been charged in relation to this incident. These individuals have today appeared before Dublin District Court and as such the matter is sub judice. The interests of justice for all concerned, as I have indicated, require that I can make no further comment in regard to this particular incident.

As regards the action I will be taking towards tackling crime in general, I already spelt this out in detail earlier today during the debate on the Europol Bill. My objective during my term of office is to provide the resources and means and to reform the criminal law to ensure that there is effective law enforcement. This includes adequate prison spaces to accommodate persons sentenced to terms of imprisonment by the courts. I want to see the law enforced, all crime, subject to the interests of justice and society, investigated and, where possible, detected and all those responsible for committing crimes prosecuted in respect of those crimes. I want every individual sentenced to imprisonment to serve his or her debt to society and to be made an example of to others who might be of like mind. I will go about this task in a systematic, well-thought out and measured way. The days of the rubber band and sticking plaster approach to the criminal justice system are over. The Government is unequivocal in its intentions in this respect.

I note the points made by Deputy Shortall about the delays in processing certain cases or offences. Following discussions, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sat for some weeks during September. I am pleased to report that the delays in Circuit Court trials in the Dublin Metropolitan area are at their lowest level for many years. I wish to express my appreciation to the Judiciary for this.

I intend in legislation, which I hope to introduce shortly, to replace the system of preliminary examination as it gives rise to unwarranted delays in criminal trials and there is no necessity for it in this day and age. If an individual believes there is no prima facie case against him or her this argument can be made before the court of trial. This will inevitably lead to much speedier trials than we have at present.

I am conscious of the points made by Deputy Shortall about attacks on visitors and I will look at whatever means are available to ensure those who attack visitors are no longer under the impression that they will not face the full rigours of the criminal law. Whatever means or mechanisms are required to ensure that they face the full rigours of the law will be provided. Under the criminal law, video evidence is allowed in certain sexual assault cases and cases of violence. I will look at every possible method to ensure that people who attack visitors are no longer under the misguided impression that they will escape justice because their victim has to leave the country.