John Dennehy (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome this opportunity to contribute to the Criminal Justice Bill 2004. The intention of this Bill is to enhance the powers of gardaí to investigate and prosecute offences and provide for improvements in the operation of the criminal justice system. I join with the Minister and others in paying tribute to the late Eamon Leahy, senior counsel, for the work he has done in this regard. It is somewhat disappointing that his report, which was put forward in late 1998, is only now being implemented.

The Minister added provisions that he deemed necessary to take account of a changing situation. He has been criticised for introducing a surfeit of legislation but many of the proposed changes are intended to counteract defence lawyers who act for suspected criminals. The issues that can be brought forward to evade blatant breaches of the law are incredible to those who are not members of the legal professions. It is reasonable that, as often as necessary, this House should review and amend laws containing loopholes that can be circumvented by clever lawyers. It has been said that one may get away with murder if the right lawyer is hired. We have seen that happen in other jurisdictions.

The Minister has expertise available to draft and implement laws to address various situations. However, the public has concerns on the many cases that are lost for flimsy reasons. This applies in situations ranging from drink driving to high profile and dangerous offences. The interactions between component parts of the process of justice, including the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform, the Judiciary, the legal profession and the Garda are beyond the comprehension of most people and the public suffers because of this. Gardaí are also concerned because on many occasions they have become the meat in the sandwich.

Officials of the Department and members of the Judiciary and the legal profession have similar training, work environments and rules. They speak a different language to the rest of us and it can be difficult to understand what they do. Gardaí, who must fully interact with the public, are the frontline for the justice system. They implement the law and literally put their lives on the line. They are expected to prevent crime, assist community activities and investigate and prosecute crimes. However, they are at times treated as the poor relation within the justice system. On occasion, we have seen accounts of that in the media.

We are constantly told that society is changing, which is true with regard to the criminal sector. New technology is used to defraud ATM machines. There are new ways to make and distribute drugs, commit white collar crimes and smuggle persons with regard to sex crimes. New types of offensive weapons such as machine pistols are being used. A range of nasty changes have taken place. Garda powers must be increased to enable gardaí to combat such criminal activity.

Several speakers referred to incidents in Donegal, west Cork and other areas where an abuse of Garda powers is perceived to have taken place. Such incidents must be forcefully dealt with, but they are exceptions to the rule. They cannot be used, as seemed to be implied in one or two of the contributions, to prevent the introduction of good law enforcement by good law enforcers. Gardaí must have the power they need to deal with such changing circumstances.

It is long past time that a Garda ombudsman was in place as well as various other measures, but those necessary developments are evolving. It is also essential that the Garda has audio-visual aid equipment in place for interviewing suspects, a matter to which the Minister referred.

One could ask who would want to be a garda in the current circumstances. Members may have seen a television report of an incident, in regard to which I want to be careful not to pre-judge the inquiry into it, where gardaí had to use firearms and shoot people who were carrying out a crime. Before they left the scene, calls for an inquiry were made from expected sources. Less than a week after that incident, I read of an off-duty garda having been almost kicked to death because he was known to be a garda and as a result of which he suffered horrific injuries. I have yet to hear of anyone from those sources seeking an inquiry into that incident or offering a word of consolation or sympathy to that garda.

We had a philosophical contribution from Deputy Cuffe who spent some time trying to figure out whether he or the Minister, Deputy McDowell, was the greater liberal. The Deputy referred to the various labels attached to both of them. He went on to say something about which I am concerned, namely, that the State should not get involved in the nitty gritty of people's lives. That is an approach that deals with the theory of what is wrong but does not do anything to address the practice in that regard. It is suggested that the State should not interfere in people's lives and, if it does, this could become a nanny state.

We pay lip-service by saying we would not tolerate a situation where people aged 70, 80 or 90 are virtually unable to leave their homes after twilight. I am sick of the excuse that the people who hang around the homes of these elderly people have nowhere else to go. I have been involved for 35 to 40 years in community development, am the chairman of a community council and am involved with the scouts and various other issues. The people gathering with the bottles and cans will not go on to a soccer pitch or hurling pitch or a basketball court——

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