Paul Connaughton (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to speak on the Bill, which I welcome. I understand where Deputy Halligan is coming from in introducing the Bill. Many of the measures to which he referred should be included in any Bill introduced by the Government to address those concerns.

Deputy Mattie McGrath and Deputy Healy-Rae are in a fantastic situation. No matter what the topic is they seem to use the same speech for everything. In the ten minutes they spoke they never mentioned the words "restorative justice" once. They seem to have an unusual fascination with the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter. Perhaps they should seek help in that regard.

Deputy Halligan raised an important point, especially about burglaries because they are an issue of concern. Anyone who goes to joint policing committee, JPC, meetings or deals with the subject will be aware that while crime levels have reduced in certain areas, burglary is a consistent problem. I do not accuse Deputy Halligan of doing so but perhaps other Opposition Members are guilty of stating that when JPC figures go down that the figures must be massaged yet they are the truth when they go up. We must strike a balance in what we say and avoid giving the impression that marauding gangs are going around. The language used is quite unusual.

Restorative justice is a considerable part of what Deputy Halligan is talking about and what the Government must consider. Before I was elected as a Deputy I was a youth worker for four years. I did work with Garda youth diversion projects.

I worked with teenagers who were getting into bother and committing petty crimes and burglaries. To go back to something Deputy Pringle and Deputy Catherine Murphy said, the last thing we should do with those people is throw them into prison because the moment one does one sends them down another road altogether, a road they do not need to go down. They do not come out of prison any better than before they went in.

I brought a group to St. Patrick's Institution - I am thankful the situation there is changing - with the idea of discouraging them from involvement in criminality. It scared me more than it scared them. There must be a greater focus on how we stop crimes happening. We can never put enough funding into youth groups such as Foróige, Youth Work Ireland and Garda youth diversion projects. It is important to get people involved and to provide resources to set up facilities in areas with high crime rates.

There will be always an element of crime such as burglary and the issue is how one deals with this. One of the main theories put forward for crime rates in Galway is that it is due to easy access provided by the motorway. Criminals can come out of the city, drive down the motorway, pick off nearby towns and villages and go back to the city. Garda resources is an issue. I accept the Minister is doing more in that regard. Rural Garda stations have become a major source of concern. I understand those concerns. Galway is no different from the rest of the country and was affected more than most areas. To be honest, some of the stations that were on the list for closing a year ago were already effectively closed as they were open for only short periods. The main issue raised with me by gardaí relates to squad cars, their ability to get around and the quality of the squad cars available. Criminals have very high-powered cars and have the ability to move quickly. We need to resource the Garda properly and get a handle on crime. Recent programmes run by the Garda Síochána have had success in bringing many of these people to justice but a great deal more needs to be done. I can think of one village in County Galway, Kiltullagh, where a certain family has been terrorised in the past number of years. The Leas-Ceann Comhairle will be aware of this. These people certainly need a great deal more help and protection.

I welcome much of what Deputy Halligan said but there is frustration about the provision of legal aid. One of the concerns is that people who continually re-offend are given legal aid. I understand that civil liberty groups will have concerns about this but we need to examine that aspect. One of the points Deputy Halligan made is that we must ensure that crime cannot be seen to pay. A principle of this measure is that people are made pay back for the expense they caused. The Minister of State has laid out why that might not always suit the victim. If somebody is consistently re-offending and legal aid is consistently paid for them, where are the consequences to stop that person re-offending if he or she continues to get an easy run?

That brings me on to the issue of sentencing. We must get a grip on this element because many of the burglaries are being run by well organised gangs who know where they will hit. They stalk certain houses and know when people are in or out. We must send a firm message in whatever legislation is brought forward from this measure, and we should take on board a great deal of what Deputy Halligan has said, namely, that crime will not pay in this case, that we are keeping an eye on these people, that Garda resources will be increased and that we are putting more money into Garda youth diversion projects to discourage crime. Prevention is better than cure. We have not adequately resourced some of these groups. I refer to Foróige and Youth Work Ireland. A great deal more could be done and I welcome much of what Deputy Halligan is trying to bring forward.

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