Mr. Diarmuid Cronin:

I am a member of the Cork joint policing committee, having been recently elected to it. I was a guest of that committee and of the Limerick committee as well as being a member of the Kerry committee. I note a different approach from that of the past. After the new committees bed in it will be interesting to see if there will be a different approach or more commonality. They are an important forum for discussion and what happens after that. In some ways we have a dual system because in community alert we have regular district meetings. Our strategy document used to ask for four district meetings per annum. We now have two because of the sheer volume of meetings. Any forum where there can be a good discussion about issues affecting the community is positive provided there is a means to take the considered judgment of the forum up the ladder and make some effort to change. The important issue is the desire to change rather than the nuts and bolts of the actual change.

We mentioned sentencing earlier. Sentencing is probably the most difficult area in which to make major changes because if a person is sentenced to incarceration with limited space that will not go anywhere fast. We need to be more imaginative and always to follow the money. If an individual has finances, property or a vehicle, ways and means should be put in place to punish him by sequestering his assets. If a criminal is carrying out raids throughout the country and owns a vehicle, the vehicle should be seized. If he has a driver's licence, it should be taken from him. If he has a passport, his opportunities to enjoy his ill-gotten gains in Spain or wherever should be limited. If an individual comes into property and if it changes hands at some stage, the loans he receives for free legal aid during the course of his life should be paid back. If a young criminal starting out in life sees that this is a career that will give him a nice lifestyle, that can be countered by making the free legal aid a loan repayable out of his benefits. There are many imaginative ways of dealing with an individual besides sending him to jail. In the present age of development of technology, electronic tagging has a major future. The number of awful crimes committed - murders and worse, if anything is worse - by people who are out on bail is such that beggars belief that it has been allowed to continue for so long. The problem is that there is no space in jails to keep people. Therefore tagging is important.

There is a major security industry across Ireland. There are fleets of security vans criss-crossing the country as well as the Garda fleet. It should be possible to create a system where at any time of the day or night an individual can be checked to see whether he is where he is supposed to be. Does the Chairman follow me?