John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill and make some general points on the improvement needed in the services and the security provided by gardaí.

I acknowledge the administrative role mentioned in the context of the Bill and I compliment the Minister introducing the Bill on the amount of legislation he is bringing before the Dáil for approval. While every Bill assists in the administration of the State, this Bill will touch the lives not only of the gardaí but the people with whom they engage on a daily basis.

The Bill is timely because the Garda Síochána, as an organisation, has to be modernised, better resourced and given the opportunity to engage in a positive way with the communities within which it works. It has to be resourced in a way that allows it to be a step ahead of those involved in criminal activity. At the same time, it has to be in a position to reach out to communities to assist them in their endeavours, thereby ensuring that the people it represents can live in a safe place in comfort and dignity.

I would like to discuss the response of the Garda to the problems faced by the elderly in our communities. The biggest change I can remember in my local Garda station in County Kilkenny was the appointment of a FÁS worker to answer telephones. After that person was appointed, telephones were answered on time and complaints were logged and, presumably, passed on thereafter. The worker answering the telephone engaged with the person making the call. When one contacts a Garda station, one often gets the feeling that not enough people are on duty and those who are on duty cannot deal with all the aspects of that station's administration. One often wonders whether there is a need for urgent and immediate change.

I would like local Garda stations to be better resourced so they can employ civilians to conduct administrative functions, thereby allowing those who are trained in dealing with society to get back on the streets. It would mean that the number of gardaí on the beat could be increased and more people could deal with community issues. I am glad that this Bill relates to administration and engagement with local authorities and local groups.

The community watch and community alert schemes which were promoted in the past were more relevant to an era that has passed. We are living in a different society that has moved on considerably. We no longer pursue a policy of closing Garda stations in rural communities because we understand that such stations are needed in growing communities. There was a time when one could count on the fingers of one hand the number of houses in some villages in County Kilkenny, but estates of more than 100 houses are now being built in such villages. We need to increase the policing service being provided in areas where Garda stations were closed some years ago so that they can benefit from some Garda presence in the interests of law and order.

As urban centres have grown throughout the country, problems such as anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol abuse and general criminality have increased in tandem. As a representative of a rural constituency, I think there has been a phenomenal growth in such problems in recent years. The efforts being made to combat such crime are not succeeding, much to the frustration of local communities. I assume the complaints made to public representatives are also made to the gardaí working in such communities, but such matters are not being resolved.

It seems that community gardaí are often transferred as they are about to get fully engaged with local communities. It may take some time for a community garda to find out who the culprits are, to determine the best way of tackling such people, ascertain which families should be targeted and access the supports which are needed. Just as they are becoming familiar with such matters, they are moved to another community or another Garda station. Those involved in police administration should understand the importance of basing young gardaí, in particular, in certain locations for a sufficient length of time. There is a need for such gardaí to be allowed to do their jobs in local communities in the way they should be done. I hope this Bill will bring about such a change.

I have said in this House during debates on other Bills that it is pointless to introduce legislative provisions without also providing the necessary funds. That is what it boils down to. If one does not have a sufficient number of gardaí and the appropriate level of facilities — a Deputy mentioned the need for fast Garda cars — we will be trying to combat crime from the back foot. That is what is happening in areas where such resources have not been put in place. People in the community are being pestered as a result. Elderly people, for example, expect somebody to call to the door after they telephone a Garda station, but they feel vulnerable when that does not happen.

When a man was shot in Dublin recently while driving a truck, there was an inadequate response from the Garda after the complaint was made. I do not wish to blame the Garda, or to pass the buck, because it simply does not have enough resources. We have to take responsibility for that in the House. The Garda has served the State well throughout its history. It is doing an excellent job, but it could do much better if its structures and its level of funding were much different.

Many complaints are made each year about individual gardaí and about the handling of individual cases. Frustrated constituents have made serious complaints to me about the handling of particular cases. In some instances, they do not complain about the manner in which the authorities responded to their complaints, but they make the point that they did not receive a response to the complaints. Some people who made serious complaints were not engaged with in a suitable manner.

One constituent continues to approach me to complain about the investigation into a road death. The constituent has made complaints to all and sundry, including the Garda Commissioner and, recently, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I will not name names, but I ask that the complaint be considered by the Minister in the context of this Bill. There is a need for somebody within the justice system — in the Garda Commissioner's office or the Minister's office, or within the existing complaints procedures — to recognise the complaint to which I refer, which relates to County Kilkenny, and to deal with it in a constructive manner. It needs to be dealt with. I came to the House today specifically to claim that the case in question is not being dealt with. If something is not done to deal with the issue, I will name names and make the details public in this House in due course.

I have received numerous complaints from constituents, but little response from the Minister, unfortunately, about the handling of missing persons cases. I have tried to highlight such cases since I was elected to the House. I have asked for a special unit to be established with the Garda, to be supported by those who are involved in best practice in this area in the United States, continental Europe and the United Kingdom.

Having travelled to the United States some time ago to investigate these matters, I explained to the previous Garda Commissioner at a meeting of an Oireachtas committee what was being done there. I was amazed to learn that the Garda was in possession of knowledge we thought was fresh and new, but it had not acted on it. The idea for a website, www.missingkids.ie, resulted from dealings with the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington. It took more than two years for the centre and the Garda Commissioner's office to conclude their negotiations on putting the website in place. That delay is particularly regrettable when one considers that the website's success rate has been simply incredible.

When I was in the United States, I learned of the case of a child who went missing at the age of four and was found at the age of 14. Success was achieved in that instance because the authorities' approach to the investigation was consistent — they simply would not let the case die. Police enforcement agencies in various parts of the US have helped with www.missingkids.ie, which represents a small step in the long process of developing a search protocol that will operate in the cases of those over the age of 18. Such a protocol has not yet been put in place, however.

If one listens to any of the radio programmes or media reports about the families of missing persons, one will learn that such families believe that nobody engages with them. They do not think they receive any support from the health authorities or the Garda Síochána to assist them with their trauma. Nobody seems to be dealing with such cases. I appreciate that a major effort, Operation Trace, took place but it was just a paper exercise. It was merely a review of the files. I hope on Committee Stage the Minister will visit the issue of missing persons to ensure that greater numbers of gardaí are trained through the exchange programme operated with John Jay College in New York by the Jerry McCabe fellowship. We must engage far more constructively if we are to ensure that people are trained properly. Our willingness to engage must reflect the fact that the authorities in the USA are prepared to co-operate with the Garda and the limited nature of the costs involved.

The FBI posts three officers to the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington whose dedicated function is to work with the organisation which is sponsored by both the Government and private sectors. The centre was prepared to make technology and personnel available to us. Senator Hilary Clinton's office said she would make her adviser in this area available to the Garda to explain the systems employed, the amber alert protocol, a code Adam and the way in which searches are conducted in the USA. The offer was never taken up.

If legislative change is necessary, why not make it? Perhaps, the changes can be implemented through the Bill before us. We know the support we need is available. Why not appoint a number of properly qualified people to engage on a regular basis with the families of missing persons to ensure that searches remain ongoing? No Member will have seen a photograph of Jo Jo Dollard since 1995, the year in which she went missing. In the USA, a photograph is updated with the co-operation of the family of the missing person and published in the media, on leaflets, on the Internet and on the backs of milk cartons. Private enterprise co-operates with the process. Files are continually updated and the public is kept informed.

We do not do these things. This debate represents the only opportunity I have had to appeal to the Minister to reconsider his position and effect a change in legislation. It would not cost a fortune. I have come to the House from a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts where I was made aware of the number of fortunes to be saved in the context of what goes on in public spending. It is possible to source the funds to facilitate missing persons provisions in the legislation, establish a Garda unit and implement technology based on the www.missingkids.ie website to address the cases of persons who are 18 years of age and over.

Legislative provisions are also required to clarify how and when a search should be conducted and to establish what should be the Garda response when a person goes missing. If the required changes cannot be made in the Bill, I urge the Minister to bring forward special legislative provisions. We must examine Garda resources for community policing, traffic duties and administration in the context of the prolonged search for a missing person whose body was eventually discovered on her next-door neighbour's property. In another instance, a body was found on the other side of a wall which gardaí had passed 100 times during their search. I do not believe the area of Castledermot in which Jo Jo Dollard went missing was searched to the extent to which it would be searched had she gone missing today.

All of these cases can be related to those of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman a couple of years ago in the United Kingdom. Police were brought in from other constabulary areas as were other professionals. They searched until they found the missing persons.

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