Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail)
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I am glad the Senator has raised such an important issue. Yesterday I spoke in the Seanad about the GRA conference and how extremely difficult issues cross the desk of a garda. I know we all appreciate that when a garda starts his or her shift, be it day or night, he or she never knows what will unfold. To paraphrase another phrase I used, who is going to protect the protectors? It is important that we are mindful of this.

My worst experience of seeing gardaí being mistreated was in Dolphin House. Eight years ago I visited there after an organisation that deals with domestic violence asked me to see the conditions in Dolphin House. At the time, there was a very strong lobby for new dedicated family law courts. It has taken eight years to get planning permission, so this issue is nearly like the children's hospital. While I was delighted to hear that planning permission has been granted, I could not help but think about how long this situation has gone on.

I was shocked when I was there. It was horrific to see how women were treated when their former or present partners came in and there was no privacy or space when they were waiting to attend hearings, often trying to mind their children. Sadly, young men attended who were under the influence and they were very threatening to the gardaí, who were very young. I really felt for those gardaí. Therefore, it is important we always bear that in mind.

Mr. Ciarán Delaney is in the Gallery. He is very well known and well respected by all of us. He sent me correspondence at the start of this meeting about two specific incidents, one which he witnessed, where gardaí treated individuals in a way that was absolutely less than it should have been. I propose to send that to Mr. Jones. I corresponded with Mr. Delaney to say I would not raise the specific issues here but would forward the specific incidents and ask that somebody come back to me about them.

Mr. Jones has answered quite a bit about training. I had the privilege one time of being on the Special Olympics torch run and I stayed overnight in Templemore when we were doing the run there. I have a brother who has Down's syndrome and I was very conscious and appreciative of the module of training all trainees in Templemore received at the time. That was done through the Special Olympics and it was about 15 years ago. It was wonderful to work with the Garda to raise awareness in the towns we travelled through. I thank the force for all of that. Certainly all of that training is hugely important.

Both sides have pretty much answered the questions on accessibility, as in, everyone is doing their best but there are old buildings on both sides. Certainly the State needs to invest to make sure all buildings are fully accessible.

The issue of data collection is very important. We referenced hate crime earlier in one of the responses. Obviously we await the passage of the legislation on hate crime and hate speech. I believe the data on local JPCs is also important because there can be under-reporting. To recommend and encourage reporting, it needs to be very clear that it is reported and accounted for, and if extra supported measures need to be put in place, that the State and the Garda will endeavour to put them in place. The same applies to the justice system.

On the Courts Service, it was recommended that a comprehensive training module be put in place for everybody in the justice sector. What is of concern is when people, particularly those with invisible disabilities, find it difficult to express themselves or express themselves in a way that may not be seen as appropriate and sometimes is due to a lack of emotional intelligence around understanding the language that is being used.

While I take my rightful place and allow the Chair to resume his seat, I would appreciate a response.