Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a gabháil as an deis labhairt ar an ábhar seo. Tá mé ag labhairt ar an ábhar seo are feadh blianta anuas. Is maith an rud é go bhfuil ráitis ar siúl seachas reachtaíocht mar uaireanta bíonn muid ró-ghafa le reachtaíocht. I hope this debate will result in effective action rather than rhetoric so that we do not end up with the usual posturing and calls for more gardaí or legislation. We need to use the Garda Síochá na effectively and, rather than a raft of new laws, existing laws should be better targeted. We have enough on our Statute Book to deal with the major crisis our society is facing.

Tugaim féin agus tugann Sinn Féin tosaíocht do shábháilteacht an phobail. Ní gá dom ach mo theach a fhágáil maidin ar bith agus feicfidh mé, agus a lán Teachtaí eile sa Teach seo, áiteanna a bhfuil drugaí á ndíol go hoscailte iontu, áiteanna a raibh círéib nó a leithéid iontu ag an deireadh seachtaine nó an oíche roimhe. Feicimid go díreach cad é tá ag bualadh an phobail lá i ndiaidh lae. Caithfimid anois, agus an deis againn sula n-éireoidh sé ró-dhona, déileáil i gceart leis agus sin an fáth go bhfuil mé ag gníomh de réir briathra na dTeachtaí sa Teach seo, seachas an gnáth-rud a bhíonn ann le linn ráiteas, raiméis gan aon ghníomh ina dhiaidh sin.

In order to effectively deal with gangland crime, we must resolve the drugs crisis. The size of recent drugs finds should be a signal to us of the scale of the problem. Recent finds have included: seven bales of cannabis recovered from the sea off the west coast; cocaine worth €200,000 in County Kildare; heroin worth €2 million and €200,000 in Clondalkin and Cork, respectively; cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis worth €420,000 in Tallaght; cannabis worth €220,000 confiscated at Dublin Airport; heroin worth €10,000 in Galway; heroin worth €2.4 million in Dublin port; and drugs worth €200,000 in the south-west inner city. It is generally accepted that finds by the Customs and Excise and the Garda account for only one tenth of the drugs trade. Congratulations are due to the Garda, the Customs and Excise and anybody else involved in ensuring these drugs did not reach the streets but nine times that amount get through on a daily basis. The problem is not confined to Dublin city, as some would claim, but has hit every town and village throughout the country.

If we accept the scale of the problem, we have also to accept that the drugs trade is the single biggest influence on crime. Gun crimes, anti-social behaviour, mindless violence and thuggery are often associated with the misuse of cocaine, heroin or alcohol. Intimidation makes people too fearful to walk to their local shops and open drug dealing, muggings and burglaries only add to the problem. If we acknowledge the scale of this problem, we also have to accept that weapons of every calibre were recovered in the aforementioned drug seizures. The weapons entering the country with these drug shipments are sufficient to prosecute the war that drug barons have been declaring on our society over the past 30 years. Greater awareness is needed, as well as greater urgency in addressing this problem.

Only last month, the State was rightly put on full alert in response to the threat of foot and mouth disease. When that disease last threatened several years ago, we were able to shut down every port in the country and invest additional resources to clean trucks and ensure travellers from various parts of the world were screened. If we were to take the same approach to drugs, we would go some way towards dealing with the huge quantities of drugs which are entering our country. That is a topic of urgency.

We must address the causes for people's involvement in drugs, which are poverty and disadvantage, as well as the results in terms of those who seek methadone and other treatments. I urge the Minister for Health and Children to ensure methadone treatment services are not disrupted by the dispute between her Department, the HSE and pharmacists. If that happens, much greater quantities of drugs will be sold on our streets than is currently the case. Many people who have tried to turn their lives around would end up back on heroin.

This morning I met the Garda inspectorate as part of our efforts to ensure the Garda Síochána tackles crime effectively and it was a worthwhile meeting. Some of the points made in a recent report were very welcome. I take this opportunity to appeal to the Government, particularly the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to ensure the Garda Síochána is given the basic tools with which to tackle crime, for example, a proper radio system to allow communication between gardaí. The radio system in question has been in a pilot phase for far too long. Other countries around the world have been using it for the past 30 years and it should be rolled out immediately. The Government should also ensure the Garda Síochána has cars and other equipment, including mountain bikes, required to deal with crime. The stations from which gardaí operate should also be conducive to good policing.

We welcomed the joint policing committees when they were being set up and would have liked them to go further. We have actively worked in the committees since they were initiated and urge the Minister to roll out all joint policing committees throughout the State. We also urge all Members of this House to play a full role on the committees because my experience to date suggests a very limited number of Oireachtas Members are playing such a role in Dublin. Hopefully the joint policing committees will be rolled out to allow communities to play a role, have their voices heard and have the Garda act upon their concerns.

The Cabinet yesterday discussed the Government's priorities for a policing plan and we made a submission to the Garda Commissioner in that regard. Hopefully he will take on board some of the points we raised to ensure the Garda Síochána lives up to its responsibilities in terms of tackling drug related crime and anti-social behaviour. We believe the policing plan must reflect the priorities of communities and that it must commit gardaí to working in partnership with those communities. We also feel that there should be a move towards an all-island police service. Communities can influence local policing plans through the JPCs and hopefully this will happen in the near future.

We seek police services, north and south of the Border, that can attract widespread support from the host community. There are areas throughout the State where communities are suspicious of the Garda Síochána, have turned their backs on the force and are afraid to co-operate with gardaí. This issue must be tackled and we must be imaginative in how we achieve this. I have often called, in this House and at the joint policing committee, for the pilot scheme on stopping drug dealing in the Minister's constituency, Baile Bhlainséir, to be expanded. That initiative provided an anonymous phone line, not run by the Garda Síochána, that meant people were less wary of being targeted for trying to rid the community of drugs. This is a major concern because some people who willingly help the Garda Síochána are then targeted by the drug barons and their sidekicks and this discourages others. This matter can be addressed and for a small amount of money the aforementioned initiative could be helpful.

In our submission we made a number of key recommendations on deployment and resourcing priorities and I believe they will help build on the trust, confidence and co-operation required between communities and the Garda Síochána. Simple things, such as gardaí on mountain bikes or targeting hot-spots of anti-social behaviour, will encourage people to engage with the Garda and break the perception that gardaí are unwilling to respond or will only sit in the station or in their cars.

The bulk of the recommendations in our section were based on a large piece of research we conducted in the first few months of this year surveying households across Dublin. The findings were similar to those of other surveys carried out by national newspapers and others. We found that more than one third of respondents identified drug abuse, drunk and rowdy behaviour, threatening and intimidating behaviour, discarded needles and syringes and drug dealing as serious problems in their communities.

Some 52% of respondents were personally affected by anti-social behaviour in the past 12 months, yet only 60% of them reported the matter to the Garda Síochána. I found this part of the survey most disturbing. Many of those who reported the incidents to the Garda Síochána felt that they received no clear response, that there were lengthy delays or that a lack of interest was shown. They complained that sometimes gardaí failed altogether to respond. Many Deputies will know of constituents with similar experiences. This all fosters low public expectations of the Garda response and makes people less likely to contact the Garda again.

We asked how the Garda Síochána should tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and build community response. A common suggestion in Dublin among the almost 1,000 respondents was that gardaí on foot patrol, youth liaison officers, community gardaí and gardaí on bikes rather than in patrol cars and vans are needed. Greater visibility of gardaí is required.

We request that resources be made available to allow gardaí to get back on the street and win community confidence. We also seek extra resources to be dedicated towards the Garda drugs unit to help tackle the biggest cause of crime in our society. Drug barons and dealers have declared war on society.

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