Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That point was never outlined. At the same time, however, there is no reason other senior Ministers should not be present. Moreover, if the Taoiseach is serious about Dáil reform and Friday sittings and if a new brand of politics is being advocated, I do not accept such an absence.

To revert to the legislation, assaults on emergency workers are not being taken seriously enough and people should wake up in this regard. For example, the Bill's definition of "emergency worker" includes "any member of the Garda Síochána as provided for in the Garda Síochána Act 2005". Such assaults take place on a regular basis and over the past 12 months, there have been approximately 800 assaults on young gardaí in particular throughout the State. This is something to which Members must respond but I believe there are hundreds of other cases in which assaults are not reported. In respect of the Health Service Executive staff and the ambulance services, it is appalling that front-line workers who are helping very ill people, patients and senior citizens in emergency situations are often abused and assaulted. This is a key issue and I have seen this personally in accident and emergency departments in both Dublin and Limerick. I recall one incident that took place at 2 a.m. one night outside an accident and emergency unit in Limerick. As I emerged from the unit, I saw acts of violence taking place by the edge of the door. The security staff were trying to retain a man, the Garda arrived later and people were being intimidated and threatened. The same is true in similar units in other hospitals.

It also is a sad day for Ireland when one visits an accident and emergency department, only to see security staff going around wearing stab vests. As my colleague, Deputy Smith, remarked earlier, I wonder how many security staff worked in accident and emergency units some years ago. Twenty or 30 years ago, people who attended such units showed respect for the front-line staff.

That is something we need to look at. Regardless of the person's condition or the community from which he or she came, on reaching the hospital the front-line staff were always treated with respect and dignity. Sadly that has now gone. Staff, whom I meet regularly, will point to two main issues leading to assault - alcohol and drugs. Everybody seems to blame alcohol. I would always place the initial responsibility on the person who drinks the alcohol. The vast majority of people take a drink, get on with their lives and do not assault anybody. I do not accept the trend in this House and in broader circles to blame the product for the problems and reactions of people. People need to take personal responsibility for their own actions. If they cannot hold the booze or change personality, they should not take it - tough.

The drugs issue is more serious with fellows souped up on cocaine. It often takes three or four security officers in an emergency department to restrain these people, which is not acceptable. I have seen it on the front line of the Mater Hospital on a Saturday where it has taken three or four guys to pin down some fellow who is stoned on cocaine and alcohol mixed together. Other patients are frightened out of their lives. I will never forget the time I saw senior citizens sitting on chairs and trolleys witnessing this going on in the background. As this is not acceptable, the legislation is important. The Minister and the Government are fudging a very important issue again.

Section 1(e) of the Bill refers to: "any employee of a Local Authority established under the Local Government Act 2001 and who are members of a fire crew travelling to or from the scene of a fire". We know about fire officers and those who work for the ambulance service. However, other local authority staff do great work, including people who work in senior citizen complexes throughout the north side of Dublin. They are regularly intimidated and nobody is speaking up for them. Last night at a community policing meeting in Edenmore I met a disabled man who is regularly intimidated and threatened by gangs in his senior citizen complex as are the staff members trying to help him. Those working in the Dublin City Council parks department do excellent work and yet they are intimidated in certain parks at certain times.

Section 1(f) refers to: "any medical practitioner or nurse providing medical care in the Accident and Emergency ward of a public or private hospital". People are serving the State and serving the patients, and yet have to put up with this nonsense. It has not been mentioned that it is distracting these people from the main part of their job which is to deal with the patient and to support people. It is interfering with productivity and is impacting on addressing the issue of waiting times in emergency departments if people are distracted and cannot focus on getting patients through the system.

My only concern about the legislation is the exclusion of some front-line workers such as teachers and school caretakers. I worked in a disadvantaged school for 25 years and came across many cases of staff members being threatened including the caretaker and me. It was a very serious situation. By the way, I did not wait 25 minutes for the gardaí to arrive. I always had a defence mechanism in my office - a big hurley - with which to defend myself until the gardaí arrived. Everybody has the right to protect themselves and the right to protect those who work in their schools. Teachers in some schools have to double as bouncers, social workers and gardaí until the major services arrive on the scene. That is the reality in many cases. I would not have been able to run the school without the late Joe Daly, the caretaker, who was my right-hand man when it came to certain incidents when it was necessary to stand up to people for bullying and intimidation. I am making the point that teachers are also front-line workers.

Another issue is relevant in the context of the children's rights referendum. If a teacher dealing with a child's allegation of child sexual abuse possibly from a dysfunctional family, there will be elements who will threaten that person. I have seen many such cases where people were trying to defend the interests of the child and those involved in the alleged abuse in the family would threaten the teacher, care worker or special needs assistant. We need to be conscious of that issue also.

Section 2 of the Bill states:

This Bill applies to:

(a) an assault causing serious harm to an emergency worker whilst he or she is on duty;

(b) a threat to kill or cause serious harm to an emergency worker whilst he or she is on duty; or

(c) an injury to an emergency worker whilst he or she is on duty caused by the piercing of that emergency worker with a syringe.

We need to be very careful about the victims of assaults and trying to prevent assaults under the law. There can never be a hierarchy of victims where some victims get more sympathy and more coverage in the media than others. We need to be very cautious and ensure that everyone is treated with respect and equality.

I accept the point the Minister of State made earlier that the law relating to assaults, the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, deals with the issue and provides for penalties of up to ten years' imprisonment. However, we need to consider what front-line emergency workers are saying. The Minister of State and his Government colleagues are sleepwalking and have not taken account of this. SIPTU, the Irish Fire and Emergency Services Association and the Garda Representative Association, GRA, are very concerned about legal protection from attacks on public servants. A representative of the GRA recently said:

There appears to be a political reluctance to properly protect front-line gardaí from assaults now rising above 800 every year. Successive Ministers for Justice have failed to implement legislation to protect emergency workers. [That is a fair point and should be taken into consideration.] Our people are subjected to vicious assaults on a daily basis. Our members go to work never knowing if they will return home undamaged.

SIPTU, which represents thousands of fire fighters, nurses, paramedics and other emergency personnel, echoed the calls for greater legal protection for workers who provide critical emergency services to the public. It is important to listen to the views of those representing people on the front line. An emergency worker was quoted as saying:

When you're assaulted your confidence in dealing with the public takes three steps back. People have emotional scars going up to the next case. They wonder: "Is this person going to hit me?"

I again commend Deputy Calleary on introducing the Bill. I welcome the debate on protecting our emergency services staff and I hope the Government will respond. It is not just a Government issue. I hope the community and society as a whole respond in such a way that it is no longer acceptable to assault or hurt any emergency worker or any other citizen.

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