Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank all Members who contributed to this debate, which I think has been helpful in highlighting the problems in this area and what we can do to extend further protection to members of An Garda Síochána. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Harris, for coming to the House to deal with the Bill. I welcome that the Government is not opposing the Bill.

As I said earlier, what I am interested in is achievement of the ultimate goal of this legislation. I am open to any amendments or technical changes that would make this stronger legislation and thus better law and thereby extend the maximum level of protection to An Garda Síochána. I am open to whatever needs to be done to ensure that is achieved. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of the Minister, Deputy Fitzgerald, to the Department of Justice and Equality since her appointment as Minister with responsibility for that Department. She has been a proactive and reforming Minister and has shown great mettle in her Department. I commend her for her work on the legislation on burglaries, bail and tagging, which is an issue I have been raising for a number of years. I believe we need to utilise technology to the best possible advantage of this State. There is a role in this regard for electronic tagging and it should be pursued.

I thank Deputy Sean Fleming for his contribution. I was not aware that 53% of Garda vehicles are unmarked. While I am sure each of those vehicles is needed it is important the percentage of Garda vehicles that are unmarked is reduced. I know that the process of expansion of the fleet has commenced and I acknowledge the great work that is being done in that regard and the unprecedented investment in this area. As I said, what we need now is for all Garda vehicles, in terms of there being high power and high speed capabilities, to be the norm rather than the exception. Deputy Fleming's proposal in relation to GPS monitoring and driver-training is helpful and needs to be considered in the future. I acknowledge that a Bill brought forward by Fianna Fáil proposed the putting in place of CCTV surveillance on our motorway network, similar to that proposed by me in this Bill in relation to strategic rural locations. This proposal, if pursued, could have a positive impact in this area.

I thank Deputy Harrington for his contribution. The Deputy spoke about an issue that is at the very heart of this Bill, namely, the lack of respect for members of An Garda Síochána that has crept in slowly over time. This trend of loss of respect needs to be reversed. We should never allow a situation whereby a police force is beyond question but equally we should never allow a situation whereby gardaí in the course of their duty are spat at or verbally or physically abused.

That is central to what I am trying to prevent because the criminals who perpetrate the crime I am trying to clamp down on do not think twice about what they do, and that is the nub of the problem. They have a general lack of respect for An Garda Síochána and the uniform and that needs to change. Deputy Harrington equates this crime to attempted murder. He is right and there can be no soft line on this.

I thank Deputy Eoghan Murphy for his contribution. He referred in particular to the opportunity that will arise with the improving economy and the recovery in public finances to better resource gardaí. There will be a great opportunity and it is about prioritising expenditure. We have significant catching up to do but a great start has been made and we need to keep that going. As the Deputy said, an attack on a garda is an attack on us all. Gardaí are on the front line. They are vulnerable and they put themselves between the criminals and communities and individuals, and therefore they need additional protection. They need to be treated differently in the eyes of the law because they are doing a special job.

Unfortunately, as Deputy Farrell pointed out, 88 members of the force have lost their lives in the course of their duties protecting citizens since 1922. That is an incredible number when one considers that even in the House today, the highest number of Members to participate in a division was approximately 60. Gardaí do an amazing and remarkable job and everybody in the House needs to give them 100% support. Deputy Farrell, like many others, referred to the need for high-powered vehicles to give gardaí the best opportunity. He also referred to attacks on other emergency services personnel, to which I also referred in my opening contribution. Perhaps the spirit of this law could be incorporated into laws that protect these personnel. Deputy Kyne referred to difficulties the emergency service personnel face on bonfire night. Unfortunately, attacking emergency personnel is not seen in enough people's eyes as a line that should not be crossed. People should be in no doubt that this is unacceptable. This is so far past the line that it cannot be seen anymore. Such attacks should not happen, but unfortunately they do.

I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for his contribution and for his research on the issue. I am open to differing views on this legislation. We agree on much more than we disagree and I welcome his comments on establishing a sentencing council and doing things differently. Perhaps that needs to be explored but my fear is that in a criminal's mind, it is an option to ram a Garda vehicle when he is trying to evade arrest by gardaí and it is not the exception. We need to make every effort to expunge that mindset. I call on Sinn Féin not to oppose the Bill. There will be an opportunity, on a later Stage one hopes, to make a contribution on what can be done to strengthen this law to make it the best possible to protect gardaí. If we could take an all-party approach to this, it would send out a strong message. The Deputy's input is welcome and would be welcome again on a later Stage.

Deputy Lawlor referred to the developing trend of patrol cars being used as offices by members. A number of my good friends have joined the force and they spend a great deal of time out and about in the patrol car. Given the hours they spend in it, they are more vulnerable and this legislation is trying to address this issue and increase protection for them. The Deputy also acknowledged that criminals do not see a deterrent for their behaviour, and that needs to be tackled.

Deputy Kyne referred to the number of new Garda vehicles that have been brought into service. It is a move in the right direction and we need to keep going that way. The Deputy referred to high-powered vehicles in particular, and I welcome his comments. We need to balance the scales and give gardaí the best opportunity. As the Deputy said, if they do not think twice about attacking a peacekeeper, children or other vulnerable people will not come into their thoughts. We cannot tolerate that and, therefore, we cannot take a soft approach. There is no excuse for that behaviour and, as a Parliament, we need to come down heavy on it.

I thank all those who contributed. The Bill is trying to extend more protections to gardaí, which will mean more protection for citizens. As a Parliament, we could all work together on this to bring forward the best possible law and perhaps extend it to cover emergency services personnel. I hope it will progress.

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