Beverley Flynn (Mayo, Independent)

I am glad to have an opportunity to speak on the Criminal Justice Bill 2004. I support the amendments which have been proposed by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Everyone is hugely shocked that firearms seem to be so easily available in society. Recent horrific events involving firearms have caused alarm among the public. I welcome the Minister's decision to introduce a mandatory minimum sentence of between five and ten years for certain firearms offences. It is an indication of the Minister's willingness to deal with what has become an intolerable situation in a tough manner.

I also welcome the proposed introduction of a firearms amnesty, although we will have to wait to see whether it will be successful in encouraging people to hand in their firearms. It is important to assure people, as the Minister has done in the Bill, that the firearms in question will be forensically tested and that action will be taken if it is found that they have been used in serious crimes. I accept that every crime involving a firearm is serious. It is important to give such assurances in the context of the introduction of this amnesty.

People who hold licensed firearms have been quite sloppy in their storage of them over the years. That phenomenon is not just found in rural Ireland but it is not uncommon there. I am familiar with instances of shotguns being stored in unlocked cupboards, propped up against walls and left hanging around houses. Some people have a careless attitude to serious weapons. Many cases of this nature have been highlighted by the media in recent times. I do not want to get into the detail of the Padraig Nally case in my constituency, but lessons about rural policing can be learned from it. Many elderly people and people living on their own, especially in rural areas, feel insecure. They do not think the Garda is providing an adequate rural policing service. In many cases, they keep licensed firearms for their own security and to protect them in their homes.

It important that we should learn the lessons of the Nally case. When live bench warrants are issued for the arrest of certain individuals, they should be followed up. We need to improve the rural policing service, for example by ensuring that more gardaí live in the communities they police. I am aware of cases in my constituency of gardaí living in towns 20 miles from the localities they serve. For such gardaí to drop out to those localities for a while before returning home is not enough to reassure elderly people and people who live on their own that they are safe.

I would like to speak about the existing mandatory sentencing provisions in respect of drugs offences. The Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform's research into the use of the mandatory ten-year sentence has found that an average sentence of between six and eight years was imposed over the course of 55 cases which were brought before the courts. The wider community has been given the impression that mandatory sentencing does not work. I understand that the relevant legislation allows mitigating circumstances to be considered, thereby reducing the length of the sentences imposed in some cases.

I welcome the Minister's attempt at a balancing act in this legislation. He is trying to act tough in respect of existing offences by ensuring that the mandatory ten-year sentence is implemented. Having said that, the mandatory sentencing provisions in the existing legislation mean that when people are caught, they are pleading guilty and saving a great deal of court time. The provisions also mean that many convictions are being successfully secured, which might not ordinarily happen if every case were fought in the courts.

Some positive developments have resulted from the existing legislation, but we are right to take an extra step to strengthen it further. Given that drugs are so freely available and there is so much gang warfare involving drugs, we need to reassure people that we are taking action. While these provisions have a preventative effect when people are caught, we want to deter people from getting involved in such crimes in the first instance. If it becomes clear that people are getting sentences of ten years or more in the courts, others might become convinced that they should not get involved in this way of life.

I welcome the Minister's proposal to introduce a drug offenders' register, which will be an important element of the Garda's attempts to keep tabs on offenders in this area. It will mean that offenders will be unable to move around the country to operate freely in different localities, which is a problem not just in cities but also in rural communities. Drugs have infiltrated every aspect of our society. It is important that we send a strong message that anyone who is getting involved in drugs offences will be punished in the severest way possible.

I think there is a great deal of public support for the introduction of anti-social behaviour orders. I am concerned about some aspects of the orders because I am not sure they will answer all our concerns. It is clear that people in our communities are fed up of anti-social behaviour. The residents of a housing estate in my home town of Castlebar contact the Garda daily to complain about the consistent harassment they suffer at the hands of a small number of people. Fire crackers have been thrown in doors, loud parties have been held, people have been harassed and fear has been instilled in the local community. When members of the Garda drive into the estate, the residents retreat behind their locked doors because they are scared to be seen to speak to gardaí in case they attract the attention of the individuals in question. They know that if they become the subject of further harassment, there will be a great deal of nuisance in their lives.

The introduction of anti-social behaviour orders is important. I am concerned that the definition of the orders in the Bill will give the Garda quite wide discretion in the use of the orders. Many people are concerned, having heard recent evidence from the Morris tribunal, that the Garda should use its discretion properly. We do not want vulnerable people who live in difficult circumstances always to bear the brunt of the orders. Many people who cause problems with their anti-social behaviour do not come from the low income sections of society. In many cases, they come from the high income end of society. The use of anti-social behaviour orders and civil orders through the courts should be an important and effective deterrent for people from all social classes. I look forward to seeing how these orders will work in practice.

The introduction of anti-social behaviour orders is an indication that the Minister is getting serious about dealing with problems caused by behaviour that might not constitute a criminal offence, but it is causing great upset among people in every part of the country. I live in a town of 15,000 people in the west. I assure the Minister that the problem of anti-social behaviour is as serious in that town as it is in some cities. I am afraid that much of the behaviour in question results from a lack of facilities for young people.

It is important for the Minister to introduce anti-social behaviour orders, but it is also important for him and his Cabinet colleagues with various responsibilities in other Departments to put in place facilities for young people so that they do not have to hang around on the streets. The only thing that 14 and 15 year olds in my home town can do is walk the streets and hang out around takeaways until all hours of the morning. Unfortunately, when there are gangs of young people in that situation, invariably trouble breaks out. I recall discussing with the local Garda why there were not more gardaí on the beat. It was explained to me that on any particular rota there might be 13 gardaí. There might be one monitoring the switchboard, one driving the patrol car, one out sick and another on long-term sick leave. It added up so that there were only two people available to walk the streets and deal with crime. I know this is something of which the Minister is well aware, given the proposed introduction of the Garda reserve. A Garda reserve might well be able to fulfil some of the functions currently being carried out by gardaí who would be much better deployed in looking after the people in our communities. A shop window might be broken and a garda cannot be found for half an hour. However, a car parked illegally on the street for five minutes will get a ticket. It may be a cynical attitude, but that is the way matters lie. When a crime is perpetrated against a person there is nobody to be found, yet sometimes one can get caught for a minor offence such as parking illegally within the shortest possible time.

The Minister introduced other amendments dealing with superintendents being able to grant search warrants. I am not sure I am entirely comfortable with that. Obviously there is evidence available to the Minister whereby it may be impossible to get a member of the Judiciary to hear a case outside hours in the middle of the night. It is important to have a system in place to provide a check on what is being done. As regards the granting of a search warrant, it would be preferable for that to be done by bringing matters into court and I have some concerns in that regard. The amendments the Minister proposes are broadly welcome and we can only know in the fullness of time how they turn out in practice.

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