Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

Listening to the debate so far one cannot but be struck by the realisation that there is a serious clash between what the law provides, in particular the common law, and the view of the ordinary citizen who is confronted by an intruder with criminal intent in the family home. There is no doubt at all but that there is considerable fear about the extent of intrusions that we have read about and experienced in recent years. In that regard it is very helpful that Fine Gael has put this issue on the agenda because while reference has been made to Border counties and rural areas the fact of the matter is that the phenomenon of people feeling vulnerable in their own homes is not restricted to those areas alone. Many people have experienced burglaries with intent or worse. There was a particularly gruesome case in a block of apartments on the north side of Dublin recently. It highlights the extent to which people are fearful for their personal safety and cannot enjoy their homes in such circumstances. That perception clashes to some degree with the law, which is very detailed and which has stood the test of time in this regard.

The fact that in rural areas in particular we have seen such gruesome incidents in recent years where people living in isolated and vulnerable circumstances have been attacked in their own homes, usually for the purpose of burglary and where violence has been inflicted on helpless people in those circumstances, is something that we in this House have a duty to discuss. In so doing we must examine whether the law is defective in any way. The Minister has conceded as much and has admitted that he understands that this is the reality. I interpret what he has said as a commitment to the extent that if the Law Reform Commission completes its business before the year is out and produces a draft Bill that it will be introduced in this House without undue delay. Otherwise, I am satisfied for the Fine Gael Bill to proceed to Committee Stage in this House. The Labour Party has reservations about some of the provisions in the Bill and agrees with some of the points raised by the Minister. We often shoot down – if that is not an inappropriate term in this case – Private Members' Bills advanced in this House when they could easily be improved upon or amended in committee to deal with existing social problems. The consultation paper published by the Law Reform Commission indicates to me that the Law Reform Commission itself acknowledges that there may be a necessity to update the law in this regard.

In regard to the section on which the Minister concentrated, it appears to me that the Law Reform Commission, in its consultation paper, makes a distinction between the application of defence in connection with attack on the home dwelling and the use of self defence in the context of any other circumstance. It states that a defender should not be required to retreat from an attack in their dwelling house even if they could do so with complete safety. The provisional recommendation also states that the dwelling house should be defined as including the curtilage or area immediately surrounding the home.

It is some time since I read the Law Reform Commission report on legitimate defence. However, there is an awareness of the problem that we are seeking to highlight here. If the Law Reform Commission continues its practice of recent times of accompanying its report with a draft Bill, I believe it should be introduced in this House without undue delay. Fear in the countryside in particular is greatly exacerbated by the absence of policing in the traditional manner. So many rural Garda stations have been closed or are essentially inoperable. The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy Dermot Ahern, has not set out his views today in regard to how he views the recommendations in the report of an bord snip nua in the particular matter of Garda stations. Traditional community-style policing and the patrolling of neighbourhoods and so on has virtually vanished from our cities. It is difficult for remote communities to feel assured in terms of the closure of Garda stations in their areas in recent years. This is adding to the real fear that exists in rural communities.

It is appropriate that we are discussing this legislation in a calmer environment than was the case when it was last discussed by the House a few years ago. We should not in any way play down the real fear among people, in particular senior citizens living in isolated conditions, for their personal safety. Whether this is a matter of adequate policing, the introduction of other measures or for refurbishment of the criminal law, this House should be prepared to do its duty in that regard.

I am reminded that when Rumpole of the Bailey went to court to defend his clients he would always resort to a passage about the golden thread that runs through the criminal justice system, quoting from the famous Woolmington case of 1935:

Throughout the web of English criminal law one golden thread is always to be seen - that it is the duty of the prosecution to prove the prisoner's guilt...If, at the end of and on the whole of the case, there is a reasonable doubt, created by the evidence given by either the prosecution or the prisoner, as to whether the prisoner killed the deceased with a malicious intention, the prosecution has not made out the case and the prisoner is entitled to an acquittal. No matter what the charge or where the trial, the principle that the prosecution must prove the guilt of the prisoner is part of the common law of England and no attempt to whittle it down can be entertained.

This is also the case in Irish law deriving from common law and reinforced by our Constitution. However, there are exceptions to the golden thread rule, namely, insanity and expressed statutory exceptions. There is nothing preventing this House, based on professional advice from the Law Reform Commission, examining this point. There is no doubt but that this Bill is highlighting a real and serious fear in the community, in particular among our senior citizens, especially those living alone.

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