Damien English (Meath, Fine Gael)

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform is not doing a good job. We have been told for the past two years that this Bill will be the saviour of the world. In every interview he has done in that time, the Minister has said that the Criminal Justice Bill 2004 will solve all our problems. We have had to wait for two years for the legislation. We asked for the amendments a year ago, but we were not given them. How can we have a proper debate without the information we need? In recent weeks, we have been given the heads of the proposed new sections and bits of the proposed amendments. Approximately 300 pages of amendments will have to be considered on Committee Stage. I would welcome many of the Minister's proposals if I believed the Bill would work and the new provisions would be enforced. Many of the measures in the legislation are similar to existing regulations. I accept that it will tighten the law and give the Garda more powers in some cases.

Two main points should be noted in this regard. This legislation will introduce new laws, but how can we be sure they will be enforced? If we are to help gardaí to enforce existing laws and do their jobs properly, we have to give the force the resources it needs, including additional staff. It is not acceptable, in this day and age, that simple things like stab jackets have to be borrowed from forces in other countries. Criminals fly along the M50 in some of the top cars in the world, like Jaguars and Lexuses, while our gardaí go around in family saloon cars. They are not sufficiently armed or equipped to deal with criminals like those operating.

We need to get real if we are to tackle crime. It is not enough to put in place a Bill that tries to cover everything but will probably not be implemented until this time next year, just before the general election. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform will claim he has tackled everything, including the fall-out from the Ferns Report, the problems in accident and emergency departments and aspects of crime such as the use of guns, in this Bill, which covers almost everything. There is something in it for everyone. I am afraid that every time we try to bring a case under the Bill, it will be challenged in the courts. This legislation is a minefield because it is so big that the lawyers representing criminals will have many easy opportunities to find loopholes in it. The manner in which it is being introduced in bits and pieces, with many amendments, may also lead to difficulties. The Minister should separate the main issues and deal with them individually.

I will refer to some aspects of the Bill about which I am happy and some of the changes which are good. I am glad the Minister has proposed the introduction of mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of firearms offences. People who have guns for the wrong reasons deserve to be behind bars. Prison is mainly for those who represent a danger to society. Those who carry guns for no reason other than to do damage and cause bodily harm belong in prison. I welcome the Minister's intention to put in place laws to that effect. It is a pity this measure could not have been separated and enacted quickly to scare those who carry guns. The introduction of an amnesty is important, but the problem is that the people to whom I refer are not afraid that they will be caught. This aspect of the legislation needs to be enacted quickly to scare such people.

The Bill will tighten up the provision whereby a mandatory sentence of ten years' imprisonment is imposed on people convicted of dealing in drugs worth more than €13,000. That has been the law since 1999, but it has not been enforced in 95% of cases as a result of get-out clauses. I welcome the tightening up of this law. We need to publish better sentencing standards and guidelines to be used by judges. The types of sentences imposed should not vary depending on location. One's address should not decide the judge one gets, and the judge should not decide whether one is given two years or ten years in prison. There should not be substantial differences in length of sentence. New sentencing guidelines and policies for judges should be published.

The Minister has proposed the establishment of a drug offenders' register, on which the names of those who are convicted of drugs offences will be listed. The Garda knows such people and watches them. We need to give the Garda the power to deal with them, not the power to compile a list of their names. Everyone knows who they are.

I welcome the proposal to provide for restriction of movement orders, which will be enforced by means of electronic tagging in some cases. It is right that we should use modern technology. The criminals use such technology. They are able to defeat the Garda hands-down when it comes to technology. We have to equip our police force with modern technology that its members can avail of.

The Minister in this Bill is introducing anti-social behaviour orders which are supported by most parties. I would favour their use in conjunction with a system of penalty points for various crimes, whereby different levels of anti-social behaviour cause one to be given different numbers of penalty points. When a young person — young people will most commonly be involved in this system — approaches a certain number of points, it will be clear to everyone in the community that they have a problem on their hands and they need to step in to tackle it before it is too late. I suggest the establishment of a system of penalty points, in conjunction with the use of anti-social behaviour orders or, preferably, in advance of the use of such orders, as a means of identifying young people who are starting to get involved in crime.

I would like to speak about the speed of the legal process. The greatest deterrent to crime is the fear of getting caught. When people are caught, too long a period often elapses before they are brought to court, tried and sentenced to imprisonment or community service. The link between the punishment and the crime is sometimes blurred if a long period of time has elapsed. Some commit many more crimes while they are waiting to be tried for an earlier crime. Many out on bail commit crimes and get involved in illegal activities.

I remind the House of the importance of crime prevention. All the Bills introduced by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform relate to tackling crime after it has taken place, which is too late. We need to have some good debates about crime prevention. The Minister is an intelligent person, although he does not always act quickly. I am sure he could contribute a great deal to a debate on crime prevention. I hope such a debate can take place soon. I apologise for speaking beyond my allotted time.

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