Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I have always felt that the delivery has been too slow. We managed to establish two significant projects in my constituency which I would like to see replicated. Ballymun, which had two or three project workers a couple of years ago, now has approximately 30 and Finglas has a dozen. These are not sufficient, however, and they are slipping into a nine to five mode, whereas I would prefer them to work at night and over weekends because that is when their support is required.

I compliment the gardaí in my constituency because they are working flat out and are second to none. They are working closely with the community and I cannot complain about their diligence, effectiveness and willingness to respond. One of the shootings which hit the headlines two weeks ago took place in my constituency but within half an hour, gardaí recovered the sawn-off shotgun involved after a report was received that it had been found in somebody's back garden. It is sad that the injured party, while lying in his hospital bed, refused to communicate with anybody, even his mother. The same individual was involved with last Saturday night's escapade on the M50. The issues we must address are difficult but we need to start with education.

I support the amendments proposed by the Minister. They are long overdue and will be accepted in communities. I have been contacted by a man who is driven demented because a gang of youngsters refuses to stop kicking balls against the side of his house at all hours of the day and night and gives him two fingers and worse. At the other end of the scale, guns are produced in rows over cars, girlfriends, games of poker and unpaid drug debts. These issues must be addressed because there is no doubt that crime is proliferating. However, our problems are not of the order experienced in Los Angeles and we should not talk about them as if they are out of control. The vast majority of people are law abiding and want to remain so.

Problems of anti-social behaviour are increasing and Deputies from every part of Ireland hear of the issues that affect people. Effective and enforceable measures will have to be put in place because I am not in favour of introducing a raft of unenforceable rules and regulations. We should try to ensure that we protect the people we are elected to serve. We have to consider ways to successfully prevent crime and, more importantly, to stop people from becoming involved in criminal activity in the first place. A number of the proposed amendments focus on these issues.

Sooner or later, every Member of this House will have served in Government. I have been long enough around to have seen the introduction of many worthwhile initiatives which have been consigned to the shelf upon the appointment of the ensuing Minister. I have seen neighbourhood youth projects, youth encounter projects and this, that and the other kind of project, but they never seem to be anything other than pilot schemes. They should be mainstreamed without prevarication.

Firearms are a significant issue, particularly in light of recent events. My constituency includes grieving families as well as ones that are causing grief to others. I know the families of two of the people questioned with regard to the murder of Donna Cleary. The parents of the families concerned are good people and it was not for the want of effort that their sons fell into a cycle of crime. Efforts were also made by State agencies to help them but, by each working on their own, these agencies go nowhere. We must aim for inter-agency co-operation. Many families live in fear of an escalation in the level of gun violence. The people involved in the M50 incident have friends who are waiting in the long grass to exact retribution, but there is a reluctance, borne of fear, to reveal their whereabouts. We need to confront the fears that exist in communities with regard to bringing information to the Garda. It is frightening that a person injured in such an incident is not prepared to talk to gardaí. I understand why this is so, although I do not condone it.

It is important that guns are removed from circulation. I am inclined to support the notion of a gun amnesty, but I cannot see the people involved in these matters acknowledging that they possess guns and asking that they be licensed or entering the local Garda station and saying, "Here is my gun, sergeant, I will be a good boy from now on". However, I applaud the attempt to use the gun amnesty to recover at least some of the guns in circulation. I compliment the family of Donna Cleary on its bravery in wanting to be associated with such an amnesty.

A couple of years ago, I attended a meeting with senior gardaí, at which the issue of sawn-off shotguns was raised. I appeal to people who possess licensed shotguns and who, for the most part, live in rural Ireland not to be under the illusion that a gun thrown under the kitchen table or into the corner of the stable will still be there when they return for it. I was told of a man who, while shooting rabbits, visited a local petrol station and placed his gun beside his car while paying for petrol. The gun was gone when he came out but it turned up later as a sawn-off shotgun. While the amendment proposed by the Minister on sawn-off shotguns is welcome in that respect, it must be obligatory that guns are kept in a secure case, regardless of the inconvenience involved, because it is not enough to claim that a gun can always be accounted for. We do not want to revert to the situation that obtained during the Troubles, when licensed shotguns had to be left in Garda stations.

Minimum mandatory sentences are necessary in the current climate. Communities will support us in ensuring they are served. I do not know how we can communicate to the Judiciary that the public is in favour of strict sentencing with little room for remission. To be fair to the Minister, I compliment him on the manner in which he has been progressively reining in the notion of early release etc. Such action must continue. The mandatory sentences for possession of drugs was introduced by a previous Dáil of which I was not a member, but it does not appear to have been taken on board to a serious extent by the Judiciary. It should reflect on this.

Operation Anvil is a very effective way of policing. It is vigorous, robust and upfront, but some people do not like it. Recently, I had to drive through three armed checkpoints on my way home. I felt secure, although I was somewhat intimidated when gardaí with submachine guns were examining my car along with uniformed gardaí. The number of cars which have been seized, together with the prosecutions made in my area, warrant this. The €83 million in Garda overtime included in this year's Estimates, €23 million higher than last year, is money well spent. It may need to be extended, but if we continue with the high profile level of policing, we will make progress.

Progress can also be made if gardaí can work alongside community gardaí who are the heart and sole of any policing force. As an old-fashioned teacher I have always argued that a moderate type of discipline is needed, be it in a classroom or a community. One cannot blow hot and cold, being a nice person one day and objectionable the next. The same principle applies to the Garda and it should be consistent. I compliment the approach of Operation Anvil.

Organised crime is a significant issue. An amendment is being proposed regarding gang membership, and this needs to be teased out. The matter was brought to my attention some nights ago when I attended a meeting where the issue was raised. We need a mechanism in place which will in some way make it an offence for a person not to give a statement. I am not a lawyer and have no legal training, but too many people are going into Garda stations and staring at the wall or a video camera, making a mockery of the system. An inference must be taken from this inaction, and it should be punishable in law. Otherwise we will have too many people holding on to information. Gaining intelligence is the nub of the problem as the intelligence needed to crack organised gun crime is not forthcoming to the extent I would like.

We have almost talked ourselves into the ground about the drugs issue. Unfortunately, drugs never became an issue of real concern until they became a problem in rural Ireland and in better-off portions of society. As long as the problem was confined to working class areas such as mine and Deputy Costello's, as well as similar areas, it was almost acceptable. This was not acceptable in the 1970s, the 1980s or the 1990s, and it is not acceptable now. The nature of these drugs has changed and the proliferation of cocaine is frightening, as is the emergence of crack cocaine.

For every shipment of heroin or cocaine which comes into the country, a gun comes with it, which is disturbing. I do not know how the scanning of consignments of freight coming through ports can be increased. I have been told by someone with knowledge of these processes that many of the guns coming through in consignments are not detectable by scanners in use at our ports because of the material from which they are made. We must examine that issue.

We should consider fast-tracking technology for the gardaí. Within about ten minutes of the shooting in Berryfield Drive a fortnight ago, the person suspected of hiring the gun was on the scene. He knew where the shooting had taken place and it is believed he was able to scan the Garda communications system. This issue should be considered, and the system should be digitised. I visited San José as part of a Dublin City Council delegation some ten or 11 years ago. The police there had onboard computers, for example, and were able to get instant information. We need to be able to do the same.

The investment in the area has been made, but I wonder if it is to the extent that it should be. I stumbled on a fact today that stunned me. I rang a part of the Garda force and asked if I could e-mail them regarding a matter. I was told that part of the force did not have e-mail or Internet access. That is extraordinary. I asked how I could send the information to them and I was told that I could e-mail it to the Garda press office and it would be circulated to the appropriate station. Even children in their bedrooms have access to the Internet at this stage. I hope I am not correct in this statement and that I can stand corrected.

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