Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party)

The section states that it shall be an offence for any person to engage in offensive conduct. This presumes these people would cause serious offence or serious annoyance. On foot of this provision, a garda can impose an on-the-spot fine and, if the person does not pay the on-the-spot fine, he or she will be charged and brought before the court. This will mean a significant increase in the numbers dragged before the courts under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994. A garda who might exercise a certain judgment under the current Act might tell a person to go away and not annoy him or her because her or she will not go to the trouble of bringing the person to the station or before the courts on foot of what the person is doing. It will be much easier for the garda to say he or she will slap a fine on the person and to give them notice of that, and if that is not acted on, the person will be brought before the courts. Young people generally will fall foul of this, even though they have not committed a serious breach. They will find themselves pressurised into paying the on-the-spot fine to avoid having to go to court and take a chance on the judge taking the garda's view of events, which is normally the case.

I refer to 1 May 2004 when European Union Heads of State attended a meeting in Dublin. This incident should be examined to see how such all embracing provisions under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 2003 can be abused. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and the Government turned Dublin into a police fortress and serious civil rights abuses were perpetrated for which the Minister was responsible. During the weeks leading up to the meeting, the media, elements of the security establishment and Government elements behind the scenes, whipped up hysteria about Dublin being taken over by mobs, anarchists and various dangerous elements.

Water cannon were supplied to the Garda and we witnessed a dress rehearsal of what inevitably happened. The Garda, at the slightest pretext, rolled out their cannon to demonstrate their use on the Navan Road, which borders my constituency, for the first time in the history of the State. A total of 25 people were arrested under the public order Act. It is incredible that they were kept in jail from 1 May in some cases until 5 May having fallen foul of one or two provisions of the Act. It is disgraceful that this has not been commented on more. One of the accused was charged with the most grievous crime of stealing a garda's cap and he was remanded in custody by a judge who was seized of the same effete rage as the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform that thousands of young people would dare to campaign against what the EU political establishment represented, and in opposition to the war in Iraq. However, this incident passed with scarcely a comment.

The Minister wishes to give powers to be used at a whim by members of the Garda. Other pillars of the establishment, business people and speculators, have paraded before tribunals for eight years on foot of a suspicion of being involved in shady dealing for their own enrichment at enormous cost to society. Few of them have darkened the doorway of a prison by contrast with the 25 young people arrested on May Day 2004. The summation of this incident is that in a capitalist society the law, the courts and the apparatus of the state protect the establishment and will suppress those who are in opposition to it to different degrees depending on the situation.

It is extraordinary that the Minister proposes to introduce the so-called anti-social behaviour orders on a future Stage of the Bill. It is disgraceful that we do not have sight of what he intends to do on this Stage. I do not care what form such orders take because they will not be the solution to anti-social behaviour. They are an instrument by which youth will be criminalised and they do not address the problem. However, instead of examining appropriate alternatives and solutions, we have this excuse for a policy, which looks good as a soundbite and which will throw dust in the eyes for those suffering because of anti-social behaviour in our society.

The Minister has not provided positive measures and investment, which will achieve the social integration of young people who are alienated and which will correct the planning disasters which threw significant numbers of poor people on top of each other. New housing developments are incredible. In Tyrellstown in my constituency, which I share with the Minister of State, 2,000 new homes were built in four years but no community facility was provided, but the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has come up with ASBOs to deal with problems there.

The Minister of State has questions to answer about the implementation of the Children Act 2001 and the many constructive proposals within it, which could lead young people away from becoming a scourge on their neighbours on housing estates at an early stage.

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