Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

I dealt with a case in my constituency which was similar to the one outlined by Deputy McGuinness and involved a young woman who went missing. While her phone was eventually found beside a canal, it was a number of days before her body was discovered at the same location. It was very frustrating for the family. The father of the young woman went to the canal and knew that it was not very deep yet the search party did not look in it. The failure added to the family's trauma. While I accept what Deputy McGuinness said about good practice, it would not encourage the families of missing persons. The experience of the family in my constituency and many others raises many questions. It is only when a person one knows goes missing that one is really affected.

Other Members spoke of anger and frustration in communities, which is not to detract from the positive elements of the Bill. A significant problem in my area is the difficulty of getting through to a Garda station by phone. Despite the fact that it is the 21st century, people speak of it taking 15 or 20 minutes to get through to a station. Whatever about faster cars for gardaí, it is necessary to address basic infrastructural needs. I share the concerns of Deputy McGuinness about drug and drink problems. Parts of my constituency have a higher than average incidence of drug and alcohol misuse than is the case nationally. In many instances, these problems were not addressed until local community interests got together.

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