Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I too welcome this debate and I will focus on certain aspects of it because nobody could cover the entire range of relevant issues relating to crime in Ireland in ten minutes. There were four different shooting incidents in my constituency last night and this indicates a worrying trend towards the possession and use of guns in society. Thankfully nobody was killed or injured but fear has spread in the communities affected by these shootings and beyond. These incidents came only one week after the daylight shooting of an unarmed garda, Paul Sherlock, in Dublin. I wish Garda Sherlock well and we are all thankful that his injuries were not life-threatening.

This trend is very worrying and while I will come to other issues raised here, such as prevention, community courts and so on, later in my contribution we first must address the growing incidence of gun crime. There are the beginnings of a gun culture in this country that previously we would only have associated with the United States, US, and crime drama on television. That such crimes now happen in Ireland is genuinely worrying for people who feel vulnerable in their communities.

Statistics show that there were 27 gun murders in Ireland last year and 21 the previous year. The detection rates are also worrying as only 16% of recorded gun murders in the past ten years have resulted in a conviction. The message conveyed by such statistics is that there is a reasonable chance that a person guilty of a gun crime will get away with it. I strongly believe that we must address this hard end of crime and see these statistics turned around to give people back the safe communities they expect and are entitled to enjoy.

In many cases these incidents are connected to wider criminality and relate to drug gangs protecting what they see as their territory. Big money is at stake and those profiting do not concern themselves with those who might get caught in the crossfire or those terrified to leave their homes. There must be a coordinated and determined response with policing backed up by such bodies as the Criminal Assets Bureau, local authorities and other organs of State. Unfortunately many such criminals feel they can get away with their crimes and can continue to make large sums of money on the backs of vulnerable members of communities, such as drug addicts. I agree thoroughly with the contributors who have already said that we must retain an unarmed police force. Nevertheless, we must give the Garda the strength it requires and we must show these criminals that there will be a serious response. The criminals must know that the Garda Síochána is not a soft touch and that they cannot lord it over certain communities.

We need serious community policing that is valued at senior levels in the Garda Síochána, not simply seen as an optional extra, as is often the case when community police are taken away to perform other duties. The message given is that community policing is not the most important thing a garda can do. Communities need to get to know local gardaí so that they can feel safe about passing on valuable information and feel protected when they have the courage to stand up to the criminals in their midst. This is one of the most difficult issues in areas where crime, serious or petty, is prevalent. People are terrified about being vulnerable, particularly at night, if they are perceived to have complained about criminal activity. People often ask me to inform the Garda of criminality that is occurring in certain streets or houses but then ask me to leave their names unmentioned. People who inform the Garda of criminality feel they will be victimised as a result. The biggest challenge for the Garda Síochána in my constituency is to maintain control and a visible presence in areas where crime is prevalent.

I have not always agreed with Deputy John Deasy's comments in this House but I do agree that the simple things mentioned by Ms Kathleen O'Toole, Chief Inspector of the Garda Inspectorate, such as visible policing and community policing, are required in the communities with crime problems with which I am familiar. I wish the new Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Brian Lenihan, well in his office but the previous Minister seemed to rely on passing law after law with each one expected to solve a problem. These laws applied to many areas such as anti-social behaviour orders, ASBOs, giving police powers relating to loitering and so on. A series of legislative measures has passed through this House since I came here and I do not feel that this is the way to address these problems. The real answer lies in the visible policing of communities, particularly at night.

Major regeneration of my constituency is taking place at the moment and this is most welcome. These projects have been introduced to help turn communities around and they have the potential to make real differences in areas beset by criminal activity. Genuine fears, however, have been expressed to me recently that problems will move from one community to another. We must address this rather than suggest people are merely being snobbish about their communities. There is a genuine fear that criminal families will move into communities and if regeneration projects are to win popular support this must not happen. There must be co-operation and vigilance from all of the agencies involved, including the Garda Síochána. This brings us back to people needing to feel confident that they can talk about criminal activity in their communities, provide information and name names. This will help ensure that we neither let criminals get away with their crimes nor transfer them to other communities.

The Labour Party proposed the establishment of local policing fora as part of our recommendations for the reform of policing, in addition to a Garda ombudsman and a police authority. Deputy Michael Mulcahy just referred to the need for such an authority and this is something the Labour Party proposed and feels is an important element in having community voices heard in the upper echelons of policing. None of these has been delivered in the way we envisaged. From my experience the policing committees established through the local authorities are not providing the real engagement between the gardaí and communities that is needed. Some Members said they have had good experiences of these committees. While I am open to persuasion about them, there is a need to make them more local and to facilitate the real involvement of community representatives.

In my constituency we set up ad hoc arrangements whereby representatives from each part of a particular neighbourhood meet on a reasonably regular basis, a number of times a year, with the Garda sergeant in the local area and the local community policeman or policewoman. There is genuine engagement by the participants without any public media presence about the problems in an area. Such meetings are effective because they involve genuine engagement.

The Ceann Comhairle will be aware that it is a long time since zero tolerance was the mantra of Fianna Fáil. Many people still live in fear in their communities. The most vulnerable are the elderly, women living alone with children and anyone who is perceived to be different or weak in any way. They are the people who need the protection of the police. It is terrible for people to live in fear in their own homes, to feel they cannot go outside, that they must stay awake at night or sleep with the windows closed even though they might need air for their health. Every Member, regardless of the side of the House they are on, hears of such experiences from constituents who call to their clinics. We must address that issue for people. Tackling crime must be kept high on the political agenda because failure to do so has such a negative effect on the lives of so many.

I wish to refer to some of the issues raised. The community court concept to which Deputy Coveney referred, which was recommended by the National Crime Council, is a good idea. Drugs task forces, where they exist, have done good work, but unfortunately for people living outside Dublin and Cork drugs task forces do not operate in the way they do in Dublin and Cork where there are genuine preventative measures in place with funding available to local communities. We should examine extending these preventative measures to other parts of the country. There are some good juvenile justice preventative programmes that have the effect of preventing young vulnerable people from getting involved with criminal gangs, but sometimes there is not enough places on some of these programmes. This issue of tackling crime should be kept on the agenda of the House.

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