Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

On some of them delegates might want to come in from different angles. I warmly welcome them and thank and commend them for their submissions. They have offered some sensible suggestions and solutions to the crime problem as a social issue. As somebody who represents the north side of Dublin, I assure Mr. McGillicuddy that we are open to the community court proposal.

Is the bottom line that all groups represented see community courts as saving money and reducing the level of reoffending by 15% to 20%? In the 40 jurisdictions in the United States of America, Canada and Australia is that the bottom line, that they save money and reduce the level of reoffending?

Mr. Lang has mentioned that the way to fight crime is with the community. As somebody who represents a constituency that has many disadvantaged communities, I totally agree with him. Yesterday, for example, I was at a community meeting in a part of my constituency where the community was in crisis. The experience of the Garda and residents was that there was so much fear and intimidation in the community that victims would not even report crimes to the Garda. How does one respond where a community is in crisis?

We all know that crime is a complex social issue. In my previous job I worked in a disadvantaged area on the north side of Dublin and always used to say one should not expect a five year old boy living in a drug-fuelled house and experiencing major violence and intimidation to grow up to be normal. Such a boy will either explode on society or damage himself; his self-esteem will diminish and he will end up either dead or commit suicide. Before one even gets to a community court, surely the first part of the solution is to intervene early. Early intervention has to be stage one of the process in that regard.

The law abiding citizen living in these communities that are in crisis often says nobody ever wants to help him or her. That is what most Deputies will tell us. These are the people who turn up at our clinics and they are looking for support from gardaí and social workers.

These are the issues on which I want to touch. Perhaps the delegates might want to respond individually or collectively.