Cecilia Keaveney (Donegal North East, Fianna Fail)

Now people can contact us whenever they want. I am not a Member for very long but discovered that Garda stations did not have such basic equipment and that if they bought their own typewriter, head office refused to supply replacement ribbons. That was one of the issues about which I had a vendetta. It took a while but I got there and the facilities are now much better. However, they may not give me credit for this, probably because a politician should not have intervened in the first place.

I fought a battle also in regard to Muff Garda station, an area in which there was a lot of petty crime and some more serious. I thank the Minister and the Department for eventually resolving the issue. Burnfoot Garda station is being upgraded. I would also like to see progress on Buncrana Garda station on the basis that it needs to be relocated on a greenfield site. This could be done easily under the decentralisation programme but it must be done as a matter of urgency. One cannot turn around in Carndonagh Garda station.

Why do I raise this issue in the context of a Garda Síochána Bill? The answer is simple — if the Garda does not have a right to solve these issues, there is no point in us bashing it. There are small stations with relatively insignificant difficulties and others with major difficulties. These are facilities that have been included in plans for decades and need to be advanced. Where there is an opportunity to look for a simple solution, it should be sought. In other words, if there is decentralisation, let us roll the two together. For example, when the Carndonagh council offices were being decentralised, the concept of Carndonagh Garda station should have been progressed but the opportunity was missed.

In the age of computerisation I do not understand the reason gardaí have to leave every station to head to Buncrana to input information. That is a complete waste of resources. There are only two gardaí at Malin Garda station. In this age of fax machines and e-mails, it does not make sense that gardaí have to leave for Buncana to input information. There has to be a better way. I am looking at the matter in the context of those who say one can never find a garda or when one telephones the Garda station, there is no response.

The Garda gives quite legitimate reasons for not dealing with such cases. The national perception is that people's admiration for the Garda is in decline. I am very worried about the lack of continuity at the highest levels. For instance, a school cannot afford to change its principal on a whim because both teachers and students would enjoy too much freedom.

In my area there were six Garda superintendents in five years, or five superintendents in six years. If a superintendent's tour of duty is only a year or 18 months, this is not conducive to ensuring the outstanding facilities are in the charge of one person to follow through from beginning to end. It often means they do not live in the area. This is not intended as a reflection on the current staff because the current superintendent is one of the longer-serving in the area, having being there for two or three years.

I ask parliamentary questions regularly about Garda numbers in my area. I am always given the stock reply that everybody is happy with the number of gardaí in Inishowen and in Donegal. However, the local people are not as satisfied. It is considered that post the Good Friday Agreement, my region is a wonderful place to live, which is true. The region is the hinterland of the fourth largest city in the country and as such the city has the same difficulties as all the other cities, such as illegal drugs. People from the city socialise in our area, which is to be welcomed. However, the follow-on effect is social problems such as rowdiness outside discos, window-breaking, joy-riding and petty crimes such as smash and grab. My region could be said to be hidden by being in the hinterland of the city. For instance, there are no road direction signs for Donegal because Derry is regarded as the end of the road but when we lobby for a motorway to Donegal, the end of the road is regarded as being in Aughnacloy.

We are told Donegal is well-served in Garda numbers. This cannot be the case when there were twice as many gardaí in Donegal a few years ago. Deputy Ó Snodaigh was very upset about human rights violations. When the so-called Troubles were at their height, robbing, illegal drugs and anti-social behaviour seemed to be dealt with, which does not seem to be happening now. There has been a rise in the amount of cross-Border crime.

The use of police horses in Letterkenny was welcome but it is unfortunate that was necessary. There are very few police forces in the world which are able to deal with such a situation without being armed. Horses, not weapons, are all that is needed in quite a rowdy, drunken, after-disco scene in Letterkenny. It is to be welcomed that this is a country where that level of unarmed intervention still works.

One is not permitted to refer to the Judiciary but I have some comments. I am aware of gardaí who work very hard to assemble a case for court. The accused is usually an habitual offender and not necessarily a first-time criminal. The accused has often been involved in a number of crimes or has a criminal record. It can be very frustrating for these gardaí when the criminals leave the court with tears of laughter and the gardaí leave with tears of frustration. The consistency of sentencing should be examined as should the relevance of the sentence in a particular case. There seems to be much inconsistency. Some people are regularly before the courts and the judge does not seem to take account of this regularity. This makes it very difficult for the gardaí to explain to the community affected by the crimes that the criminal must be taken to court again. The community is often as disillusioned as the gardaí.

I am not in favour of the "lock them up and throw away the key" attitude. In the case of juvenile crime, I favour the approach that they should pay recompense to the community in a practical way such as repairing the windows they smashed or other forms of community service. Repeated offending must be taken into account in the response to it.

The Garda in my area is solving crime but this message needs to be more publicised. The proposed policing board might supply a mechanism for this. People complain to me that the Garda is not doing enough to solve crime. However, the gardaí in the area will inform me when asked whether a case is pending or in hand and if a definite line of inquiry is being pursued. Often good news messages, which act as a form of deterrent to crime rather than people assuming nothing every happens, are not being publicised. One must be cautious in avoiding information being made public and so jeopardising a future case. The annual Garda report is probably not the best forum for information, which should be made available at local level.

Towns in my region were reduced to no-go areas this time last year. It was a local election year and this may have had something to do with it. People did not feel safe in their beds in towns. Windows were being smashed all around them and little boy racers were stopping to change their burned-out tyres in the middle of towns before taking off again. This situation seems to have improved significantly. I suggest the reasons for this change should be food for thought for the Minister. He could inquire as to the reason for the difference between last year and this year. The perception of many people is that there is no point in reporting crime. A mechanism is necessary to deal with deficiencies in the system or with members who are not pulling their weight, whichever is the reality. Local committees may provide local solutions to local problems. At the very least, the issues can be laid before a number of different bodies which should not be talking shops but have teeth. They must be able to give any support needed such as passing the information on to a higher level or even financial support. This needs to be dealt with.

I am Chairman of the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, which completed a report on volunteering. One of the key recommendations concerned vetting procedures which is a significant problem in respect of sporting and other organisations. There is a need for gardaí to be freed up so they are visible. I want the Bill to achieve this. I often wonder if a change in the speed limit would be necessary if more speed cameras were used on the roads, or if volunteers would be needed if Garda administrative support was available. Perhaps the volunteers need to provide the administrative support. Are volunteers required to organise traffic management in towns? Those of us familiar with small country towns know the chaos that can be caused by double and treble parking and dangerous parking. It can be a frustration not only for the pedestrian but also for car owners. The solution is often a proposal for a huge roundabout or money is spent on traffic surveys to allow for the installation of traffic lights when all that is needed is a man or woman volunteer or a garda to direct traffic.

If the Minister does not favour the Garda support system in a volunteer capacity, the Army is an available resource. Could the role of the Army not be expanded? It is not often engaged in war and is almost always involved in peacekeeping. Most of the problems we have involve, for instance, gangs emerging from discos and becoming rowdy in towns with perhaps just two gardaí on duty. It should be possible to call in the Army or, if that is not possible, the FCA? Is it not possible to expand the role of existing trained organisations and remunerate them accordingly?

On the issue of volunteering, I wonder what person would voluntarily give up his or her time to be a law enforcer. Perhaps my doubts are related to the geographical area in which I live. I am aware that the issue of volunteering has been studied and it has been found that people give up their time for genuine reasons so I may be wrong in this regard. Sometimes gardaí do not want to deal with a problem in case they fall out with their neighbours. Would a volunteer be prepared to take action in circumstances in which a person paid to intervene is not prepared to do so?

In my area, we have received offers on voluntary policing which I would not advocate. These may be effective in the short term but they are not the types of policing I want in future. While the legislation provides for a vetting procedure, the role of volunteers in law enforcement needs to be considered with care.

With regard to the role of juvenile liaison officers, under the current system recommendations on whether to prosecute a juvenile or deal with him or her under the juvenile liaison officer system are frequently made to the Director of Public Prosecutions who must then make a decision on the matter. Local sergeants should be able take such decisions because, having dealt with the juvenile in question at local level, they will know whether he or she has been given a fair chance. It is important that decisions on this matter are taken locally.

The Minister stated that he does not want a perception to emerge that investigations into complaints about the Garda are not independent. Most people want justice to be done and to be seen to be done. Whether Garda investigations of gardaí will work remains open to question.

Is it not self-defeating for the ombudsman commission to notify the Garda Commissioner and Minister in advance of a search of a police station? If notification is issued before the event, will evidence not be concealed?

I welcome the proposed changes on policing committees. If, however, in the case of County Donegal only one of the councils, Bundoran Town Council, Letterkenny Town Council or Buncrana Urban Council, is represented on the County Donegal policing committee, it will cause problems. For example, if Buncrana was represented, the people of Bundoran, which is nearly 90 miles away from parts of Inishowen, would feel they are not represented and vice versa. I am not sure this issue has been fully resolved.

The provision to allow personnel of the Garda Complaints Board to transfer to the ombudsman commission creates a problem of perception, although the recent problems have been related to the structures of the board rather than its personnel involved.

Residents' associations should be included on policing committees, even if it is only at sub-committee level. While this could prove unwieldy, it is important that those involved in neighbourhood watch schemes or various other fora at community level are engaged in the process. In my region, various development groups have, on an ad hoc basis, asked the local superintendent, chief inspector or sergeant to attend development meetings. The information exchanged has been positive and useful to both sides and this approach should be expanded. This issue is the crux of the Bill.

Many other questions arise. For example, should there be three ombudsmen and what would be their gender make-up? Other issues arise regarding civilian support for the Garda. The Bill has the potential to make positive change. I hope worthwhile suggestions raised in the debate will be listened to with the same care as those raised in debates in the Seanad. The legislation is overdue and will significantly improve society as a whole if implemented in the manner I anticipate.

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