Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)

We know that drug and alcohol abuse recognises no county borders and no distinction between urban and rural areas. We know that anti-social behaviour affects almost every community, varying from boy racers tearing up and down residential roads late at night to menacing groups of young people hanging around street corners intimidating passers-by and law-abiding citizens. It has been suggested that Pawel and Mariusz lost their lives after they refused to buy alcohol for a gang of teenagers. It seems that in the view of our teenagers, a reasonable punishment for refusing to break the law to facilitate underage drinking was to be stabbed fatally with a sharpened screwdriver. It is a source of great shame to us all that these two innocent men lost their lives so needlessly and so callously. That is why we in the Opposition cannot allow the Government to simply pay lip service to the root causes of such mindless violence.

Throwing money at the problem here and there without proper cross-departmental, inter-agency co-ordination is simply not working and will not work. Building super prisons while all that existing prisons seem to do is turn out repeat offenders with worsened drug problems is not going to stem the rising tide of violence in our society.

Fine Gael recognises both the seriousness of the threat posed by anti-social behaviour and the need for a more co-ordinated approach. We believe there is a need for ring-fenced funding and for a dedicated Minister of State with responsibility for co-ordinating and driving a campaign to tackle and root out anti-social behaviour. We want the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to tackle the root causes of anti-social behaviour by increasing the number of garda juvenile liaison officers, improving resources for the overstretched probation service which has seen its funding dwindle under successive Fianna Fáil-led Governments, commencing all sections of the Children's Act and setting up new sporting and leisure facilities, particularly for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds throughout the country.

However, we also recognise the need for the State to be tough on those who insist on intimidating their communities and impairing people's quality of life. To this end, we are demanding more robust measures including increased Garda powers to curb loitering and intimidation by groups, electronic tagging for repeat offenders, increased use of curfew orders, meaningful and real fines for illegal sale of alcohol, empowering gardaí to confiscate alcohol from those illegally drinking in public places and on-the-spot-fines for offences against public order.

This multifaceted yet co-ordinated approach is in marked contrast to the present Government's half-hearted and disjointed efforts. While the Criminal Justice Act 2006 explicitly recognised the prevalence of anti-social behaviour in this country by introducing anti-social behaviour orders not one single order was handed down by the courts in 2007. The previous Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform was strong on rhetoric and prided himself on draconian legislative initiatives but the proof is in the pudding. These initiatives have failed. Up to 40% of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, which was heralded by the former Minister, Michael McDowell, and his Fianna Fáil colleagues before the election as the most draconian legislation since the Offences against the State Act, has still not been subjected to commencement orders. In contrast to his predecessor, the present Minister prefers the laid-back position.

There is a clear lack of coherence across Departments in their approach to anti-social behaviour. A fortnight ago the HSE suddenly withdrew funding for a homeless centre, the purpose of which was to help tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour, including illegal drinking, on the Liffey boardwalk. Similarly, given the scale of the problem, the dearth of youth cafés and juvenile liaison officers constitutes a less than wholehearted commitment by Government to stamping out anti-social behaviour. Closed circuit television is considered very effective in reducing incidents of anti-social behaviour. Last week, the Garda Commissioner informed me that it was a vital tool in the detection of crime yet we are still without an effective network of State-controlled CCTV cameras across our towns and cities in spite of repeated promises of a half-hearted nature.

The lack of coherence in respect of the Government's policies on drug and alcohol abuse is staggering. The gardaí are of the opinion that increased drug and alcohol abuse has fuelled violent crime and civic disorder. We know that, as does every citizen in this State. If availability fuels demand then the blame for increased availability of both drugs and alcohol must be laid at the door of the present Government. We know that alcohol and drugs fuel anti-social behaviour, particularly violent brawls and civic disorder outside pubs and nightclubs. Nonetheless, we have witnessed a virtual explosion in special exemption orders for late night drinking. Today's edition of The Irish Times reports that gardaí in Letterkenny have sought to limit the terms of special exemption orders, holding them partially responsible for a plethora of civic order offences. The newspaper reports that in 2007, there were over 1,000 public order incidents in the provincial town of Letterkenny, as well as 233 minor assaults. A District Court judge in Donegal recognised the direct link between special exemption orders, late night drinking and civic disorder and has limited the opening hours of some nightclubs in Letterkenny as a consequence. I wonder when the penny will drop for the Government on this issue.

In respect of off-licences and the availability of alcohol through these retail outlets, 637 new off-licences were permitted to open last year, in addition to the 547 opened in 2006. Yet only 96 prosecutions have been taken in a five-year period against off-licences, shops, pubs and restaurants for illegally supplying alcohol to under 18s and of these, only 14 were brought in 2007.

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