Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)

It is a privilege to have the opportunity to speak in the House. I thank the people of County Louth and the Meath East constituency for their wonderful support in the general election. It is a great honour for me to be elected to this House and I promise that the interests of my constituents will always be my first priority.

I speak in support of the Bill which has been brought forward by my Fine Gael colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter, who has proved to be the best legislator in this House. In the past he introduced a number of important Bills from the Opposition benches which were accepted by the Government. The original Bill which made provision for community service orders was put through this House in 1983 by my colleague, Deputy Michael Noonan, now Minister for Finance. It is good that this legislation has been reviewed and that it will be amended for the better.

Before 1983 the courts were empowered to use either a fine or imprisonment as a penalty. The 1983 legislation provided for the first time a third option, the imposition of a community service order as a deterrent to offenders. This was a very progressive change at the time. A community service order has much to recommend it in that an offender is able to continue with his or her education or employment while fulfilling the terms of the order and he or she also repays the community for his or her criminal activity. The Bill proposes to widen the scope of a community service order. It proposes that when a judge is considering the imposition of a sentence of 12 months or less, he or she must consider the imposition of a community service order first. I wholeheartedly support this proposal. A court will be able to make a community service order if it is satisfied that the offender is a suitable person to perform work under such an order and arrangements to perform such work can be made. In reaching its decision the court will consider the offender's circumstances and the assessment report prepared by the probation officer. In addition, the offender must give his or her consent to the making of the order. As well as making a contribution to communities, these orders have the potential to make an important contribution to the cost of running the prison service. The cost of a custodial sentence is enormous by comparison with the cost of administering a community service order. This measure should reduce the necessity to release prisoners before the normal time owing to a lack of accommodation in prisons.

I wish to speak about ways of preventing criminal activity in communities in the first place. My favourite hobby is sport in general and Gaelic football, in particular. I have seen at first hand how involvement in sport can transform the lives of teenagers in communities. The teenage years are generally very difficult for boys as they strive to become young men and often clash with authority figures, teachers and parents. In the confusion of puberty they can easily be sidetracked into gangland activities and bad behaviour patterns. Involvement in team sport can be a great support at this time in their lives. It promotes a healthy mind and a healthy body. Team sports, in particular, develop discipline and co-operation, which are important lifelong attributes. If we are serious about looking after communities properly, we should ensure all young people are given opportunities to be involved in sport, especially team sport.

Too many youngsters are wandering aimlessly around the streets of towns. Their energy is often channelled into membership of gangs and other dubious activities. A truly caring community would make every effort to ensure its children are brought up in the best possible way from an early age. As Members of this House, it is clearly our responsibility to ensure communities have all the supports and facilities they need to ensure this happens. Every housing estate should have access to a good sports field; every community should be encouraged to get its children involved in team sports and every national school should have its own playing field. As someone who spent his childhood years playing Gaelic football and soccer, I am convinced that if every community had proper access to sports facilities, children would develop a much healthier lifestyle and we would see a substantial decrease in bad behaviour. This would inevitably lead to fewer community service orders and offenders in prison.

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