Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion and propose to approach it from a juvenile justice aspect. Getting tough on crime and creating the political illusion that a Government is on top of the issue involves much more than building new prison facilities and increasing our prison population. We have been treated in this House in recent years to a New York-style "zero tolerance" approach which was followed by the "Trust me because I know best" approach by Mr. McDowell and yet we still find ourselves debating the issue.

I acknowledge the enacting of parts of the Children Act 2001 and the establishment of the Irish Youth Justice Service as huge steps forward in terms of juvenile justice. I say to the Minister that it is time to break from the styles of the previous 11 years of Fianna Fáil-led Governments, characterised by commissioning reports, establishing taskforces, empty rhetoric and creating forums. This motion is presented in terms that allow the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to set out clearly both in timeframe and action how the Government plans to tackle the serious anti-social behaviour, which culminated in the tragic death of two young Polish men in a Dublin neighbourhood in ten days ago.

A majority of people in Ireland believe that offenders come out of prison worse than when they went in. Inmates with drug problems probably have a better selection of drugs from within the prison system. Young criminals learn from older counterparts and maintain the cycle of lawlessness on release. Up to 77% of offenders in Mountjoy have spent time in St. Patrick's Institution for juvenile offenders. It is commonplace for a juvenile offender to notch up 20 or 30 convictions. I am aware of a recently reported case where a juvenile clocked up 64 convictions and all of these offences are committed before they even reach 18 years of age. This is making a mockery of the juvenile justice system. I believe the issue of restorative justice, in which the victim, offender and a facilitator meet and agree on a resolution is one on which we could make progress. In order for it to work the rights of the victim need to be placed as close as possible to the fundamentals of restorative justice. This model to some extent humanises the crime committed and can be beneficial to the victim, offender, the wider community and the Exchequer.

We have a considerable amount of legislation on the Statute Book in the area of justice, equality and law reform and yet the whole area of the victims of crime has largely been ignored. The Fine Gael Victims Rights Bill, which was published recently, is a concerted effort to address this shortcoming. I look forward to debating the Victims Rights Bill in this House and urge all Deputies to support it. A restorative justice system will not deal with all offenders. The measures included in the Children Act 2001 such as community sanction and the diversion programme have an obvious potential and should continue to form part of the juvenile justice system and be expanded upon.

The Irish prison chaplains' annual report for 2006-07 states that 50% of inmates at St. Patrick's Institution are illiterate. This is a shocking statistic and reveals much about our justice system. There is an obvious link between juvenile offence and education. Given that St. Patrick's Institution is regarded in the prison chaplains' report as a preparatory school for the Mountjoys and Wheatfields is it not time for a different approach? The possibility of offering an incentive towards sentence reduction if inmates participate in furthering their education with a view to completing State examinations, is one which could prove to be of benefit.

The role of juvenile liaison officers in the Garda Síochána is key to the implementation of any successful juvenile justice system. I have met many of these officers since my election last summer and I would like to take this opportunity to commend them on their work. JLOs are at the coalface in dealing with juvenile crime. Unfortunately, however, their decision-making abilities and powers have been somewhat reduced and eroded by the amount of legislation with which they must contend. Some 14,500 annual referrals are made to the national juvenile office involving young offenders aged between 12 and 18. This process involves the investigating officer reporting to the sergeant, the sergeant reporting to the superintendent, the superintendent reporting to the national office, and the latter office reporting back to the juvenile liaison officer. This would appear to be a system that is heavy on bureaucracy and inefficient in operation. Surely a system with more decision-making abilities at the front end would be more productive and responsive.

The adoption of the UK system of anti-social behaviour orders, or ASBOs, was much heralded during the last Government's period in office. However, since such orders came into force for juveniles on 1 March 2007, no ASBOs have been issued. This underutilisation of a legislative mechanism to deal with public order is surprising and I wonder if the Minister has an opinion on it. There appears to have been a rush towards an apparent solution without putting in place the necessary supports and resources.

The issue of community policing has fallen somewhat off the political radar and is lower on our list of priorities. Since the introduction of the scheme in 1991, we have seen a reduction in the numbers of gardaí participating in the community policing programme and a reallocation of resources. Like the juvenile liaison officer system, community policing offers the most effective means of maintaining our civil society, yet only 4% of the force comprises community gardaí. The solution is quite simple: provide resources for those working at the coalface; put more gardaí on our streets instead of doing desk work; and minimise the bureaucratic hindrance of their duties. If this approach is taken results will follow.

The terms of this Fine Gael Private Members' motion are clear. The Government has a chance to make a real difference for every community and can display its intent to tackle anti-social behaviour and increased levels of knife crime. Historically when this House has acted with conviction we have achieved results. Sadly, there is an increase in the severity of actions by some in our society. We have seen a progression towards the shameful incident in Drimnagh involving the horrendous murder of two young Polish men with the use of a screwdriver as a weapon. We have seen a number of murders committed by youths over nothing more than mobile phones. What type of society is Ireland becoming?

We are at a crossroads, so I ask the Minister to accept this motion. He should put resources at the frontline for community development, community policing facilities and juvenile liaison officers. In that way we could begin to reverse the decline in law and order in a concrete fashion. I strongly support the motion.

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