Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I am sharing the 15-minute slot with Deputies Dan Neville and Charles Flanagan, with the agreement of the House.

I want to sympathise with the victims of crime, those who suffer in silence and those who suffer publicly. I am slowly realising why this Government is paralysed in the fight against crime. I heard some of Deputy Cuffe's contribution and he called for no knee-jerk reaction such as more gardaí or bringing in hard measures. What next — a cup of cocoa for everybody before they go to bed at night? No wonder the Government cannot bring in any policies. He went on to say he would like to see heated swimming pools within five minutes of everyone who lives in a working class area. Is he for real? With people like him propping up the Government, it is no wonder we are in a shambles. If he spent less time climbing the trees in the Glen of the Downs, causing trouble down in Shannon and occupying the time of the Garda, we might have more gardaí on the beat.

When I walk into a classroom in my constituency I can tell who is going to end up in jail. Most of us in this House can do so. We have heard about "zero tolerance" which has evolved into a term of vulgarity. Its main proponent used it to such a degree that he could not say anything about crime for five years. He was replaced by someone who could not stop saying something about it, but neither of them actually did anything about it. We are failing to address the small things.

People live in fear and are afraid walking down the street. Statistics show that many people who suffer in knife attacks actually own the offending weapon. They take the knife along for protection, which is a terrible indictment of our society, and indeed the Government. We need more gardaí — punishment works only in a small percentage of cases — and innovation. On this side of the House we have come up with innovative proposals over the last few years such as rehabilitation centres, which are not boot camps although they were referred to as such by some Members on the Government side who were seeking popularity. I advise the Minister and his staff to go to Thorn Cross in Warrington and see how it actually works as opposed to Mountjoy, where the educational centre, completed in April 2003, remained unused up to April 2004. There youngsters sit around smoking, watching DVDs and whatever, with no attempts at rehabilitation to give them back a sense of self-worth. We must put the emphasis on educational reform and early intervention to stop juvenile delinquency.

Most people who go on to commit crime suffer some educational disadvantage, be it literacy or numeracy. We have done nothing to address it in this country. Many teachers cannot even identify children suffering from dyslexia, but those who feel excluded from society strike back at it. That is simply what is happening. I noticed an e-mail today from the former Taoiseach, Mr. John Bruton. He recounted the statistics per head of population of people in prison around the globe. It is interesting and I advise the Minister to look at that and examine the policies other countries have. He should stop burying his head in the sand, get out and look at the systems that work. The importance of putting funding into early educational disadvantage cannot be over-emphasised. I am weary from saying this.

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