Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 2 Feb 2000

Vol. 513 No. 4

Written Answers. - Crime Prevention.

Bernard J. Durkan

Ceist:

91 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has satisfied him self that his policy in respect of zero tolerance is operating satisfactorily; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2545/00]

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

The Minister has outlined before in the House the three essential components to the Government's "zero tolerance" approach to crime: a clear and determined focus on tackling those who are engaged in crime; a determination that the law enforcement agencies will be properly equipped and resourced to deal with crime; and a commitment to address, and where possible to ameliorate, the causes of crime.

The House will already be aware from previous debates that this Government and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, are particularly committed to ensuring that the best resources and equipment are available to the Garda Síochána. The Minister's record speaks for itself. For example, in the period since he has been in office, overall crime in the State has fallen by approximately 20%. Moreover, when he took up office the allocation provided in the 1997 Estimates for the Garda vote was a figure of £472 million. The provision in the Estimates for the year 2,000 is £671.6 million – an increase of 42% or just under £200 million.

In concrete terms this means that since he has taken office the strength of the force has increased consistently starting from a base line of 10,800. The number of gardaí has now increased to 11,437 and is on target to reach the planned strength of 12,000 by the year 2002. During his term of office we have seen continued investment being made to equip the gardaí with the best of equipment and technology available. This has ranged from major IT investments to funding for a high speed patrol for policing inland waterways and for the purchase of a second helicopter to expand the capabilities of the air support unit.

He is also conscious that any long-term anti-crime policy must engage local communities in co-operation with the Garda Síochána and this is why he established a National Crime Forum in 1998 and why he recently established the State's first ever National Crime Council to continue this open and innovative approach to crime policy development.

Since taking office he has been totally committed to dealing with the twin threats of drugs and organised crime. In this context, he has adopted a twin pronged strategy of, on the one hand, strong legislation backed by tough law enforcement measures and, on the other, a commitment to a multi-agency partnership approach to dealing with the drugs problem.

The Criminal Assets Bureau, since its statutory inception in October 1996 up to 31 December 1998 has frozen assets to the value of £10 million under the Proceeds of Crime Act, demanded in excess of £19 million in tax payments and saved almost £1 million in social welfare payments.

As regards the targeting of particular criminal activity, the Deputy will be aware of the Criminal Justice Act, 1999. This is a flagship measure in the Minister's extensive programme of criminal law reform, and further proof of the Government's zero tolerance approach to crime – an approach which all the available evidence vindicates, not least for the unprecedented reductions in crime levels in recent years. An aggressive policy is being pursued by the Garda Síochána in obtaining evidence to bring drug traffickers before the courts. This has led to significant seizures of illegal drugs, the disruption of organised networks and the charging of major criminals.

Of course, the Minister has always operated on the basis that there is a correlation between crime and social deprivation and that the drugs problem cannot be solved by law enforcement measures alone and the Minister has endeavoured to ensure that the Department and the Garda Síochána are among the main contributors to the development of multi-agency integrated policies to deal with the drugs problem at a national and local level. My Department and the Garda Síochána have enthusiastically supported and been actively involved along with other statutory agencies and the community and voluntary sector in the national drugs strategy team and the local drugs task forces which have contributed so much at local level.

The Minister has not just focused on the enforcement side of dealing with the crime problem and I believe he has taken a balanced and comprehensive approach to tackling crime. Since coming into office he has placed increased emphasis on measures to reduce youth crime and he has invested significantly in preventive measures such as the Garda youth diversion projects. There were 12 in existence when the Minister took up office, there are now 29 and the Minister intends to expand the schemes further over the coming year. Some of these projects have been established with the assistance of European Social Fund moneys and the Minister is particularly pleased to have secured additional funding for my Department for crime prevention measures and youth services under the National Development Plan 2000-2006.

Finally, the Estimates recently published by the Government for the year 2000 show that for the first time ever spending in the justice area will exceed £l billion. As the Deputy will appreciate this level of investment is unprecedented and will pay dividends in the years to come in the fight against crime.