Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, the Ceann Comhairle and the Government Whip for facilitating the debate on this Bill. It is designed to protect our front-line emergency workers from grievous harm as they keep our streets safe, fight fires, look after injured victims and protect our safety. Gardaí, nurses, firemen and accident and emergency department personnel are all on the front line, protecting us and our fellow citizens, and they in turn need to be protected by the full and enhanced force of the law. This Bill seeks to introduce a specific prohibitive punishment against those individuals who assault emergency workers in the course of their duties.

We are all very familiar with the very sad scenes of drink and drug-fuelled violence in towns, cities and localities across the country which emergency workers have to confront every day and night. Yesterday's newspapers carried reports of some of the activities in this city on what was known as "Arthur's night", when front-line workers felt threatened by drunk-fuelled violence in this city. The very dark side of drink and drug abuse and general anti-social behaviour is the manner in which workers who are trying to keep people and communities safe are being increasingly targeted. The GRA estimates that there are more than 800 assaults every year on gardaí in the course of their duties. That figure does not represent the full picture as many gardaí do not report assaults. Many gardaí are now patrolling on their own and are not in a position to defend themselves and they will not follow up on an assault issue.

What this Bill seeks to do is introduce a minimum mandatory five-year sentence for assaults on emergency workers where they are in the course of performing their duties. We include in that gardaí, nurses, fire personnel and accident and emergency department personnel. Since the Bill was published at the start of the summer I have received correspondence, through my colleague, Senator Darragh O'Brien, regarding airport policy at our airports around the country, reflecting a case that happened in Cork Airport last year where airport police were targeted. If the Government intends to support the Bill, we will propose amendments to it on Committee Stage.

My interest in this area came from the death of Garda Robbie McCallion in 2009 while on duty in Letterkenny. A native of Swinford in County Mayo, Robbie died serving and protecting the people of Letterkenny and he was killed while on duty. There was a time in this country when the killing of a garda while on duty was a capital offence. However, that has changed. In the case of Garda Robbie McCallion, and later in the similar case of Garda Garry McLoughlin, the fact that they were serving members of the Garda and were on duty when they were killed was discounted in the court cases. The judge at the time was left with no option; he had to abide by the law. In his summing-up to the jury, the judge in the Garda McCallion case said: "You must not get carried away by the fact that he was a garda." He had no option but to say that, because he was reflecting what is in law at present. We should give another option. As a Legislature, we should say that gardaí, nurses and emergency personnel are different, that they are subject to a higher protection of law in return for the protection they give us and that in such a case should it ever happen again, and hopefully we will not see that happen again, a specific charge would be made of assault of an emergency worker. That is one of the intents of this legislation.

We are all familiar with accident and emergency departments and the danger posed to personnel there particularly at weekends, both from overcrowding but, more importantly, from drunk and drug-fuelled violence. We ask nurses, doctors and accident and emergency department personnel to go into those departments every weekend to face into their work every evening not knowing what kind of atmosphere they will find. I am not foolish enough to think that this Bill will deter anybody from assaulting an emergency worker. It probably will not but what it will do is send out a signal that as a Legislature and country we will not stand for that kind of assault and that we will give emergency workers extra security and protection in law. We have a very strong corpus of legislation in regard to assault, manslaughter and protection of our citizens but what this Bill seeks to do is to say that emergency workers are different, that we place them in a position to protect and care for us and in return we are investing in their protection through legislation.

A situation that was highlighted in yesterday's newspapers, reflecting recent events, shows what can happen from one event alone. On an ordinary Thursday night one would expect it to be a relatively quiet night but personnel were targeted across this city as they will be in the coming weeks as we approach Hallowe'en. Fire and ambulance personnel will be sent into areas to do a job, to protect the community and care for people, and they will face attacks and groups trying to prevent them from doing their job, not particularly caring about the personal safety of the officers involved. Through this legislation that kind of behaviour and attack will be outlawed and will be subject to a specific minimum sentence. A specific message will be sent that we value the work of emergency personnel.

This legislation is not very complex and we are open to improving it. We are open to working with the Government parties and the Minister, Deputy Shatter, on Committee Stage to strengthen it, tidy it up and evolve it. The ethos of the legislation is very simple: we value emergency workers. We are saying we put them on a higher plane, and it might open up a discussion about workers generally that we put on the front line.

I received a telephone call from a teacher this morning. Teachers are not classed as emergency workers in this Bill and I do not seek to expand that classification. Teachers, particularly at second level, have said that there are cases where teachers have been assaulted in the classroom in the course of their duty, and information in respect of such cases is being sent on. This is happening across the sphere of work. We as Deputies know from dealing with officials in public offices, particularly in social welfare offices, that they have been under huge pressure in recent years. Perhaps we as a Legislature need to have a discussion on this matter, namely, that those who serve the public need protection in terms of their personal safety. We need to send out a message that we will not stand over any assault or interference with a servant of the State in the course of his or her duty and that we will place it on a higher plane without any difficulty.

I have pleasure in proposing the Bill and I look forward to hearing the Minister's response to it. However, we cannot just leave this issue now. If the Government is going to oppose it, it should outline an alternative - where the current legislation can be strengthened. Several Government Ministers, including the Taoiseach, have spoken of concern about the two cases I mentioned in regard to the Garda. There is clearly a gap in our legislation when a garda in the course of his duty is killed but does not get recognition for the fact that he was a serving member of An Garda Síochána. What have we come to as a State if we cannot give protection to those who seek to protect us?

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