Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)

I welcome this opportunity to contribute on Second Stage of this Bill which has come to us in stages, so to speak, with a further parcel of amendments to be introduced on later Stages. Its primary purpose is to enhance the power of the gardaí in the investigation and prosecution of offences by the provision of additional anti-crime measures. It outlines a comprehensive set of measures including increased detention powers, crime scene preservation, firearms assurances, fixed penalties for lesser offences, electronic tagging, DNA data banks and enhanced Garda powers. Mandatory minimum sentences are also proposed for certain firearms offences, including the modification of firearms such as sawn-off shotguns. That is necessary because firearms, including shotguns, and robbers seem to go hand in hand. Deputies Keaveney and Crawford, representing Border areas, spoke about local shops in their areas being targeted and robbed. One of the undesirable by-products of the peace process is that people believe there is less observation in place and these criminals can travel to and from the two jurisdictions. That is one of the sad situations that has developed.

A shop in my neighbourhood has been robbed three times in three weeks at various times, perhaps at 9 a.m. on a Sunday when the owners were setting up the shop or at lunch time. These crimes are usually committed in daylight and initially, in the instance to which I referred, the robbers did not wear balaclavas. That is the type of activity that is going on. When push comes to shove, the gardaí know who has carried out these crimes. In one case they know it is individuals from Cookstown, County Tyrone. What level of co-operation do we have or what do we need to apprehend these people? One necessary requirement is good quality video evidence of these people, and we know who they are. It is a farce that we cannot take these people off the streets. These crimes have occurred regularly and the perpetrators believe they can continue to do this with impunity.

I am aware these crimes have driven some victims to distraction. They feel they are forced to sell their shops or whatever and that they have been devalued. If they go away for a weekend and put a member of staff in charge of the shop, they believe they are putting that person's life at risk. I talked to one individual who told me he was a coward but that he felt like getting a shotgun and going after these people. They have been driven to that. Unless gardaí are assigned to deal with these individuals committing these crimes on a one to one basis, so to speak, addressing the problem will be very difficult. However, when we have got to the point where the individuals are known, there must be some way of dealing with them. That is a major difficulty.

Tougher sentences have been promised for drug dealers as well as traffickers and for firearms offences. These include sentences of up to life imprisonment for a person convicted of importing large consignments of drugs. What is the definition of a large consignment of drugs? Is it a sufficient amount for a dealer, or for two people? How large must the consignment be? There is no doubt those who sell drugs are vermin in our society. In the country we used to be of the view that drug dealing only occurred in certain areas of cities but every drug dealer must get money from somewhere to expand his or her empire. The problem of drug dealing has expanded to every village and town in country areas. We hear of seizures being made in country areas and so on and it is vital that this problem be dealt with urgently.

The problem of drug offences in respect of prisons, supplying, attempts to smuggle drugs into prisons and possession in the vicinity of prisons are addressed in the Bill. People used to be put in prison to take them away from mischief but there is anecdotal evidence from different programmes and from people who have been released from prison that they can get drugs in prison. Perhaps a small percentage want to get their lives in order when they are given the shock of a prison sentence but they discover that there is a culture of drug taking in prison. We must address the problem of the suppliers and people who circumvent ways of getting drugs into prison. That is the nub of the problem and we must find a way of dealing with that problem.

Persons on the periphery of drug smuggling, better known as mules, will be enabled to apply to the court to have information in terms of assisting gardaí heard in camera. That is vital because while these mules are involved in illicit activity, they are basically driven by money. We could get a good deal of valuable information from them, which would give us information on who is selling drugs. We need to encourage key people to co-operate, people who know the drug pushers, those who are giving them money and who have given them contacts. The concept of life for the big guys in the drugs business is to remain free and not to be caught in possession. They do not mind the mule being caught in possession but when the mule is caught we should realise he or she is a mule, and move to offer some sort of anonymity through the court. That would pay dividends.

Like the penalty points system this raft of measures will prove pointless without vastly increased resources to ensure enforcement of what, at first glance, appears to be a shot in the arm for crime prevention. It should be taken as a given, having been recognised in the programme for Government that there was a need for an additional 2,000 extra gardaí, that would form part of any comprehensive package to tackle the crime rates. It is absolutely necessary to get the extra gardaí.

The ASBO phenomenon has been imported from Britain where the implications have ranged from the ridiculous to the draconian. I have heard ASBOs described as a type of esoteric injunction that bans people from highly specific acts that fall just this side of criminality. Many citizens demand that politicians consider imposing sanctions on behaviour that has hitherto been considered annoying but not criminal. It is just bordering on the criminal. The tragedy is that many young people realise they are underage and know they cannot be arrested. To some extend parents are almost goading the children and not taking them in and correcting them. We cannot ignore these issues but whether ASBOs is the correct route they got much negative publicity.

Buzz words such as "anti-social behaviour" and "weapons of mass destruction" come to mind. There is no doubt that anti-social behaviour does exist but the way to tackle is to hit its root causes. That has been mentioned here on a number of occasions. This would entail the provision of adequate sport and leisure facilities locally, together with excellent properly funded high quality educational facilities. We all acknowledge this is the way around the issue. Does one introduce an order and say this is what will be done when one misbehaves or put in a distraction which improves the behaviour? This will do more to tackle youth crime and anti-social behaviour than the knee-jerk reactions embodied in some ASBOs that descend to the farcical, such as the banning of clothing accessories, baseball caps and hoodies. Because of the way the media has driven it, if I see a hoodie I wonder what the guy is up to. I tend to forget this is a style or an accessory.

Rebuilding a spirit of basic solidarity in our communities is also essential. Young criminals invariably feel alienated from everyone around them, and see crime as the easiest way of expressing a backlash against alienation. In the UK, ASBOs can be served on any person over ten years of age. They were introduced in 1999 primarily to deal with the phenomenon of neighbours from hell. The guideline for their use has been extended to cover graffiti, under-age drinking and smoking. The recipient of an ASBO does not have to be present in court but hearsay evidence is enough to have him or her convicted and often it is the only evidence available.

There also has been the instances of dress codes against jeans in schools and the efforts to ban the veil in the case of Muslims in France. Some of us can remember the time when jeans and runners were banned in dance halls, or we may have read about the ban.

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