John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

I am substituting for Deputy Cuffe. The last time I did so was rather eventful and I hope, for my sake and that of the Minister, that today will be less exciting.

We are critical of the hotchpotch approach of the Criminal Justice Bill 2004, which throws everything into the mix. It attempts to legislate for a broad range of issues, from the use of fireworks and drug trafficking offences to torture, anti-social behaviour and the Children Act 2001. It is wholly inappropriate that such a wide range of issues be dealt with under one Bill. My colleague, Deputy Cuffe, is critical of the undemocratic manner in which the Minister is forcing this legislation through the House without allowing Members to digest fully the 255 pages of draft amendments he has tabled. Deputy Cuffe believes this to be unacceptable.

Let me comment on a number of aspects of the Minister's speech. He quite rightly spoke of the need for enhanced powers for the Garda Síochána to combat crime. I had occasion recently to meet representatives of the Garda Representative Association and noted that their real complaint concerned the lack of resources. Deputy Jim O'Keeffe was to allude to this but did not do so in the body of his speech. When one reads some of the complaints of members of the force, one will realise they are quite shocking. I find it difficult to believe they do not have batteries for their torches and have to purchase them themselves. During the recent riots in Dublin, their radios did not work, and this is one reason they want an independent inquiry into those riots. They claim they were left in the lurch on the day and that Garda management and the Minister should be held accountable. Many members of the Garda ended up in hospital and it was a terrible, traumatic day for so many of them. They want accountability and in this regard Members, at least all those on this side of the House, would welcome an independent inquiry into the riots. It is very important that we get to the bottom of what happened and understand why certain decisions were made.

Some of the Minister's claims have been rebutted. On the issue of crime statistics, 85% of burglaries, 65% of thefts and 62% of robberies go undetected. I know from my constituency that people have given up going to the gardaí. There have been repeated burglaries in the constituency and many of those living there are at the end of their tether. We now have fewer gardaí per head of population than we did some years ago — this fact has been confirmed in the response to a parliamentary question to the Minister tabled by my colleague, Deputy Cuffe. It is up to the Minister to resource the Garda. To do so we require extra gardaí on the beat, which the Green Party has repeatedly requested.

Deputy Jim O'Keeffe spoke about minimum sentencing to which the Minister referred. Deputy Gregory has often spoken about this matter. Judges are now adopting minimum sentences as the rule rather than the exception. While people are now getting ten-year sentences, they have become the maximum sentences in many cases.

I very much welcome the introduction of a gun amnesty, for which my colleague, Deputy Cuffe, has repeatedly called. It makes sense when one considers what is happening in our city at the moment. It would be a first step in trying to deal with serious gun related crime.

I refer briefly to anti-social behaviour orders, ASBOs. We already have a wide range of measures to combat anti-social behaviour, which are being starved of the resources to allow them work. Rather than introducing new and conflicting solutions to problems, such as ASBOs, let us implement the Children Act 2001 in full and give it a chance to work. ASBOs are also in direct contravention of the Children Act 2001 which contains a plethora of measures designed to deal with the problem of anti-social behaviour perpetrated by young people. Why would the Minister not implement the Act in full rather than introduce irrelevant legislation which will serve to stigmatise and marginalise troubled youngsters further?

Many measures are available to combat anti-social behaviour. I have referred to the Children Act 2001. We should give the juvenile liaison officers sufficient resources, provide more community gardaí, fill the vacant posts on the National Educational Welfare Board and invest in proper facilities in disadvantaged areas as was promised under the RAPID programme. Let us be tough on crime, but certainly let us be tough on the causes of crime. We know that many people involved in drug gangs come from disadvantaged areas.

One of the main causes of anti-social behaviour is alcohol. While I welcome the Minister's miscellaneous proposals to protect staff in accident and emergency departments, one of the main causes of these attacks and problems in accident and emergency units is alcohol. We spend €6.6 billion each year on alcohol and yet the cost of alcohol related problems is €2.4 billion, including anti-social behaviour, absenteeism etc., which represents an enormous cost on society. I would like to see more joined-up thinking from the Government on alcohol. It is our biggest drug problem and yet the Government chooses to ignore it. The alcohol products Bill was shelved by the Government, which was kowtowing to the vested interest of the very strong alcohol industry.

I agree with the comments made about the Morris tribunal. We need to introduce mandatory audio and video recording. The frontline staff dealing with problems in these areas need to be funded properly.

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