John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

In any event, it should be provided at a commercial rate. The cash escort businesses and the banks benefit from this. When an ordinary member of the community withdraws money, he or she is charged for doing so.

Another area related to charges for services is that of entertainment venues. Most of these venues employ rigorous internal security arrangements such as closed circuit television, security staff and so on. It is unfair that these venues close their doors at a given time and the patrons pour onto the streets to be supervised by the Garda. Perhaps these late night venues, which levy significant entrance charges, should make a contribution towards the provision of additional Garda numbers. It is most often at that time of night such incidents are reported.

Another key objective of the Bill is to establish the independent Garda Síochána ombudsman commission to replace the existing complaints board. At times, people have called into question the current system for dealing with complaints against members of the force. There has perhaps been a lack of confidence in the board which, in turn, pointed to problems concerning the current arrangements. A new mechanism is thus needed to ensure openness, transparency and, more importantly, public confidence in the investigation of complaints against members of the Garda Síochána.

Of all the constituents who have come to my office, I have never heard a complaint from them against an individual garda. When people complain about the Garda Síochána it is because they did not respond quickly enough. I have checked this matter and my office has never come across an individual complaint against a garda, even though it is a busy constituency office. We need to be balanced in our views on this issue when discussing the proposed mechanism for making complaints. Complaints against the Garda Síochána are not an everyday occurrence by any means.

I support the Bill's provision for the establishment of joint policing committees, which is one of the most hopeful aspects of the legislation. While serious levels of crime are being dealt with effectively, other crime, including anti-social behaviour, is not being dealt with adequately as far as the public is concerned. The only way we will ever deal with such problems is by having our communities engage fully in resolving them.

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