Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In recent weeks and months, my constituency has seen a number of criminal incidents of a gangland nature. I include the Regency Hotel incident, naturally enough, but also the Sheriff Street incident that spread into Drumcondra, as well as a further two incidents in Charlestown, Finglas, in which a young child narrowly missed being shot in a shopping centre on a Friday afternoon. This goes to show how close much of this criminality is getting to a suburban setting and to causing another innocent victim. It is only a matter of time, unfortunately, until the next incident involving another innocent victim occurs.

I wish to speak on a number of aspects in respect of crime, not all necessarily about gangland crime, but about the need for a cohesive, holistic plan on crime over the next few years. I am glad to note many of the talks between Fine Gael and the Independent Members and between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil focused on the urgent need for a crime prevention strategy and on the need for a cohesive, holistic plan.

One point raised by Deputy English earlier with which I wholeheartedly agree is the idea of prison reform. Prison reform is needed urgently and must be brought up the agenda. While the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015 passed last year was a good reform overall in respect of consecutive sentencing for burglaries, this always should have been the case. In many cases in which my constituents have been victims of burglaries, they have been surprised to find this was not always the case. As Members are aware and have heard anecdotally from speaking to victims of burglaries, it often is the case that the perpetrator commits multiple burglaries and it rarely is the case that he or she engages in this activity as a once-off event. Consequently, it is important that Members are perceived to be hitting crime, the causes of crime and the causes of criminality hard. As such, I am glad the issue of the proceeds of criminality potentially is being tackled by the proposal to establish a regional criminal assets bureau. This will be an important step forward that should be elevated up the agenda in the current talks and in the years ahead because it is clear to many members of An Garda Síochána that a real issue exists regarding the proceeds of criminality and criminals being able to retain the proceeds of such criminality.

On matters of policing, a number of Deputies have referred to the clear issue of morale among the ranks of An Garda Síochána, not least among gardaí of my age who have only recently entered the force. They have found they perhaps are victims of a somewhat unequal pay scale. Clearly, it is necessary to bring about a sense of equity in this regard.

Gardaí naturally take great pride in serving and protecting the community. Nevertheless, there is a clear need to ensure equity between a 25 year old garda and one who has been in the force a bit longer and started on a more favourable payscale. I hope we will see that question being dealt with because it is quite clear that this problem will fester if it is not addressed. It should be done sooner rather than later.

That morale issue is reflected among new recruits. I have never before seen a number of new recruits to Templemore exiting the force after joining it. That has happened in three cases and it is unwelcome. It is always good to reflect on positive things, however, including the reopening of Templemore, which is welcome, as is the commitment to bringing the force back up to 15,000 gardaí. Garda numbers have lapsed somewhat since 2010, but the reopening of the training depot will ensure a renewed impetus to raise the number of gardaí.

In Dublin, in particular, we have seen a number of gardaí joining stations but there will be a clear problem concerning retirements in the years ahead. Deputy Griffin raised this issue earlier. More flexibility will be required when it comes to the retirement age for gardaí or else it will be difficult to attain the goal of 15,000. According to people I have spoken to who are involved in garda training in Templemore, there will be some logistical challenges in reaching that target. It is obviously a laudable goal to pursue but it would be easier to retain some element of flexibility in garda retirement.

As regards the gangland issue we are facing, particularly on the north side of Dublin, I welcome the Minister's action on emergency overtime measures in recent weeks. That was a welcome initiative which did quite a lot to restore the confidence of people in that area. It will prevent further incidents from occurring, although it is hard to argue about this in a vacuum and say what incidents were precisely prevented. Nevertheless, that €5 million investment was both timely and worthwhile.

The closure of Garda stations was mentioned by other speakers and I understand that there will be a forthcoming review of those stations, so we will see what comes of that. We have seen a serious capital investment programme for upgrading stations, forensics and the car fleet. We have world-class police officers and An Garda Síochána is internationally renowned. Garda representatives are often called upon to address conferences in Europe and beyond, given their level of expertise in dealing with criminality. At the same time, they manage to retain their traditional roots within the community, which is so vital to their work. I am glad they have consistently managed to balance that professionalism with a community ethos. We should always strive to maintain that in so far as possible.

As regards upgrading the Garda vehicle fleet, we see the Garda Síochána can do more in an agile and flexible manner than ever before. The cohesive, holistic plan for policing services will be a vital element in the years to come. Gardaí must have the capability to work from practically anywhere and undertake as many tasks as possible on the beat. Gardaí must be kept in the community. It is important, therefore, to have small-scale investments, such as in CCTV. The community CCTV programme was launched in 2005 and the last project funding was drawn down in mid-2013. It would seem there is a case to be made for renewing that kind of funding. It is a small amount at €3.76 million, but nevertheless it was spectacularly effective for communities that felt its impact through 45 community schemes. We need to see more such schemes.

It seems like a quaint concept to have gardaí on bicycles but in urban areas such as Finglas, Santry and Ballymun in my own constituency, we have seen such gardaí on patrol with the capacity to move around an area quickly. A Garda car may not have the same level of flexibility in an urban environment. There are currently only two bicycles in Santry Garda station even though it covers a large area. A number of gardaí have expressed a preference for more bicycles there. Such an investment, albeit on a small scale, would be very welcome if it could be brought about.

I would like to see, as would gardaí to whom I have spoken, something akin to what happened with the employment situation in the past five years, which was a relentless focus on an action plan for jobs. Gardaí would also like to see a clear, goal-oriented and defined action plan on crime. That is the way to be tough on crime and the causes of criminality.

In addition to CCTV and bicycle patrols, the text alert service should be rolled out in a formalised manner. Nonetheless, it has worked well where it was rolled out. It is an important service both in urban and rural settings, so we should try to learn best practice in order that we can roll it out in every part of the country. In my own area, there is an inconsistent patchwork of text alert systems and some work better than others. We should share the best techniques and try to do as much as is possible while avoiding costly solutions. Money is there to be drawn down for a cohesive, holistic investment programme in An Garda Síochána.

I hope we will see a consistent planning of Garda services as well as on the judicial side of things. Barely a week goes by when we do not shake our heads in disbelief looking at some of the inconsistent sentencing that is often handed down. It would be good to see some consistency and, ultimately, I would like to see further action on that. I am confident, however, that in the years to come we will see a really cohesive, holistic plan to combat crime.

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