David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am glad to have an opportunity to contribute to this debate on crime. The debate was sparked by murders in Dublin and it has focused on that issue, which has its roots in the illegal drug trade. Chairing the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality for the past five years, I learned that this area of policing and crime is extremely complex. There is no simple answer. Reading the reports of the Garda Inspectorate, including the last one, "Changing Policing in Ireland," one sees how complex it is and how important it is to resource the Garda properly with modern equipment, including the highest level of ICT equipment. The Forensic Science Laboratory also needs urgently to be upgraded. It is not fit for purpose.

When the committee went to Northern Ireland we learned about the Criminal Justice Inspectorate there, which examined the whole family of agencies involved in fighting crime - the prisons, the police, the Police Ombudsman and so on. We advocated doing that here. We should not focus on just one agency, because they are all intertwined.

The Garda Inspectorate report refers to changing Garda rosters, considering the divisional model of policing and so on - in other words, freeing up gardaí from administrative and desk work and getting them back to policing. Mention has been made of the CAB and the need to widen its scope. I would certainly support that. There has been talk of a mini-CAB, which would take in people who are living beyond their means, although not to a huge extent, but are profiting from the proceeds of crime.

I commend Deputy O’Callaghan on his speech. He spoke about giving a consistent message to young people, and I agree with him, but young people are risk takers, thrill seekers. His second point about alternatives such as sport is very important. Mention has been made of disadvantaged areas. Not everybody in a disadvantaged area gets involved in crime but, unfortunately, a disproportionate number do. It is very important to resource our youth services such as Youth Work Ireland and Foróige. They can do tremendous work on the ground by intervening at a very early stage. Also, schools in some areas need to be properly resourced so that young people in danger of dropping out, or who are at risk and so on, can be identified early, and they and their families can be supported to deter them from entering a life of crime. This is complex. We need to start at the earliest age we can, identify where people might be dropping out of the educational system and offer them alternatives. I am aware, for instance, of alternatives that use music as a basis for education, which are highly successful. We need to identify those models, get the best practice, see what works, get them into different areas and resource them properly. There is a risk that our society could become very violent. Most people here have been victims of threats and aggression on social media.

The Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality published many reports, but the one on domestic and sexual violence sticks in my mind. It is quite often the case that such violence and other criminality and violence are linked and come from the same base. I understand the committee received over 42 major submissions on that report. A large number of women and children are affected by sexual and domestic violence. The committee also found that a large number of people with disabilities are affected by sexual and domestic violence.

Violence and crime are widespread in society. We need to change our mindset, and perhaps we should start in the Chamber by listening to each other a bit more and not being as aggressive as I have seen over the past number of years. I have a sense that is beginning to happen, especially in the committee on Dáil reform with which I have been recently involved.

Data from the National Disability Authority was presented to the committee a number of years ago. It showed that adults with severe disabilities were 2.9 times more likely than other adults to have experienced sexual and physical abuse. This issue is all-pervading.

We also received a very good submission on physical crime from the Do or Die Foundation. It spoke about the need for a domestic violence abuser register, known as Claire's Law. That system works quite well in the UK and it is something we should consider introducing here.

Joint policing committees, JPCs, were established across the country a number of years ago. When town councils were abolished in rural areas, JPCs were centralised at county level. I ask the new Minister to ensure that policing fora municipal districts be established in order to bring things to a more local level. That would be very important.

Deputies mentioned the Garda Reserve. We should make more use of it and recognise that those in the Garda Reserve are fairly highly trained and many are almost ready for front-line duties. If we want to recruit more gardaí fairly quickly, it is something we should consider.

The committee did quite an amount of work on community courts. We travelled to New York and met many people involved in such courts, and were very impressed. We returned to Ireland and held hearings. Many witnesses spoke to the committee about their effectiveness. We were told by people in New York that places like Times Square, Central Park and other such areas, which in the past were no-go areas, were in effect cleaned up, for want of a better expression, by the use of community courts. They involved the whole community and targeted many people who were involved in low-level crime. Intervention and sanctions were immediate, taking place the next day or shortly thereafter. Punishment was also immediate and often involved community service. Many people we met told us the system worked.

The Department of Justice and Equality has done a lot of work to move this proposal forward and I would like to see that continue because in involves the wider community as well as the Garda, the Judiciary and so on. Dedicated community courts that could intervene quickly and at an early stage are required.

The Portuguese model was mentioned, which intervenes in cases where people are involved in drugs for personal use at a very minor level. The system works from a list of drugs and the amounts involved in each case for personal use. We learned that the system in Portugal works quite well and is something we should investigate. The Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality completed a report which received all-party support at the time. Personal drug use was dealt with as a health rather than as a criminal justice issue. In order to introduce such a system here, we would have to invest more in rehabilitation so that those with drug problems could be rehabilitated. Such a system works when drug users get help and the will is there.

We need another Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland, SAVI, report. The report published in 2002 was very useful and we need another. I could go on. Many people spoke about the Garda, resources, training and so on, but crime is a far more complex matter. I have touched on a few issues and could touch on many more.

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