Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

Crime, like health, is a major issue. In recent weeks we have seen people suffer as victims of crime, the drugs issue and massive violence being used against our citizens. It is important we address this issue in a serious and comprehensive way. I extend my deepest sympathy to the family of Ms Donna Cleary in Coolock, one of my constituents who was recently murdered at a party. She was a young mother, shot down in the dead of night by people armed with guns and high on drugs. That this innocent woman was slaughtered at a party is a disgrace. While I blame the people directly involved, we need more than sympathy for the families affected. The Cleary family needs practical support and I urge all the groups, particularly those working with victims to assist them. We also need a policing response and action. I have a simple and old-fashioned, though relevant, philosophy on crime. If one does the crime, one should do the time without whingeing. Gardaí should not go into communities and demand respect but earn it, and this will gather community support. Although I welcome constructive comments on the solution to crime, increasing powers and creating new offences are only cosmetic exercises. When tackling crime, addressing social, economic and educational disadvantage must be a major part of the solution. We also need programmes to assist violent and dysfunctional children at an early age. It is too late to help them after they have been lost in the system. As part of the policing solution we need more gardaí working with the community, on the beat, not sitting in their offices, in Garda stations or whizzing around in patrol cars. That is the reality and our citizens demand it. We want them to be on the beat for six hours in every eight hour shift, not doing other jobs.

We need a properly planned anti-drugs strategy, because drugs lead to more violence in our society. In the approach adopted in the Bill and its amendments there is a tendency to see the solution to crime in terms of increasing policing powers and creating new offences. The Garda and the criminal justice system are severely under-funded and the measures proposed by the Minister are cosmetic and not justified by the background information. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has not done his job on crime. I urge him to wake up, to avoid little debates and rows on numbers with the private schoolboy people such as the Opposition spokesperson. It is not acceptable. The people demand action, more community policing, a serious response to crime and that the Garda does its job in a professional way.

See this speech in context