Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Central to any liberal republican democracy is the need for the courts and the police to apply the rules of a civilised ordered society. If the Government is genuinely concerned about progressing those institutions, protecting them and giving them respect, certain planning and legislative processes should be followed. The Government should engage sections of society in proper planning and discussion of legislative proposals. A Green Paper and White Paper should be produced on these complex and controversial legal issues. Then possibly one brings them to the Second Stage debate for discussion but one does not insert them at the very last minute, in a sweeping change to some of the fundamental principles of our judicial and policing systems. That is a reckless and illiberal approach to legislative change.

The issue of policing is of major concern. At this time there are concerns about the way in which evidence has been collected in west Cork with regard to certain murder inquiries. There is concern in Donegal regarding the way in which certain detentions and arrests were carried out. Only yesterday concerns were expressed throughout the country about the absolute absence of records in Garda stations relating to very serious crimes perpetrated against children in Ferns. The Minister has a duty to address the incredible loss of faith in our police force which was, up until very recently, viewed with such respect and held in such high regard by citizens. Rather than throw legislation around, left and right, like confetti, he should address that real loss of confidence in the Garda Síochána.

Whenever I think of our police force, I return to that simple, but powerful statement by the first Garda Commissioner, Mr. Michael Staines, who said, "The Garda Síochána will succeed, not by force of arms or numbers, but by their moral authority as servants of the people". The Minister should base his agenda on the police force on that simple principle. There is a real concern about trying to give the police authority, not by arms, but by a whole array of legislative measures and powers. Such measures include increased 24 hour detention rights before an arrest has to be made, the removal of the requirement for a warrant from a judge in order to search a property and ASBOs, which are being considered here. Rather than providing the police with authority by such widespread and potentially dangerous measures, which could be thwarted or used in an improper way, the Minister should start working from the ground up in the Garda Síochána. He should examine the training, the control system, in terms of the Garda ombudsman and the structures of the force. We need to move towards a system of community gardaí, who are linked closely with local authorities and communities, so they are not just dealing with the issue of social disorder, which is of real concern to people, on a reactionary basis and as a sideline to their main duties, but as the core of their duties.

If the Minister is seriously interested in addressing the social concerns that exist in our society, he must undertake genuine root and branch reform of the way the Garda Síochána works, the thinking within the force and the way that it is controlled rather than throwing legislation at the issue, giving the Garda sweeping powers, which goes against the judicial tradition and what can be truly described as a proper, liberal judicial system.

With regard to children, there is one issue that stands out as being of particular concern, although it is impossible to know the real position because the Minister has not bothered to insert the provision into the legislation yet, so we are arguing in the dark, to some degree. The issue is the potential criminalisation of young people under the anti-social behaviour orders system. This is a remarkable example of the lack of a proper legislative process. The Minister, no doubt, will refer to the experience in the United Kingdom. However, the United Kingdom went about this process in the proper manner, in terms of putting in place judicial changes in other areas, such as the courts system, the policing system and so on, before engaging in detailed planning and investigation with regard to how ASBOs might be introduced.

I suspect there is not a single person on either side of this House who knew the Minister was coming up with the ASBOs idea. I believe he came upon it one night, perhaps around 3 a.m., and decided that it would rattle the cages and receive a fair amount of political support and that he would be seen as a courageous, pioneering Minister. I do not think a single member of Fianna Fáil or the Progressive Democrats knew what he was up to. Certainly, there was no consultation beyond those boundaries. Perhaps the Progressive Democrats sat down in a huddle and came up with it as a bright spark idea but nobody else did. For these proposals to then appear in the Minister's speech on Second Stage as something he intends to introduce on Third Stage is a remarkable and disgraceful example of the illiberal, fraudulent style of legislative process in which this Minister is engaged.

If we are to treat this issue seriously, as many others including Deputies Andrews, Carey and Higgins have said, we should be treating the legislation we have already passed, namely, the Children Act 2001, seriously. That point also came out yesterday in the remarkable litany of incidences of blind indifference by the State towards the welfare and upbringing of children. Then Members come to this House and express concern that some children are acting in an anti-social manner that is of concern to others. If we wish to address that problem then, rather than throwing platitudes at it, we must run our society on the basis that we get the early years' rearing of our children right and provide children with a supportive background. That requires fundamental and radical changes in a wide variety of areas. I suggest that the Progressive Democrats contribution to that process, in terms of its children's policy, is that whatever is good for the business community is good for children. The Progressive Democrats want to get everyone into the workplace and to plan children's futures around that priority. That is something that must be changed if we want to change the behaviour of children, subsequent to such policies.

We should also change our planning laws. We are seeing the "PD-ification" of our society in planning terms ——

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