Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Yes. We have seven and a half minutes each. It goes without saying that gangland violence, feuds, executions, armed attacks, terrorising communities, violent turf wars to control the drugs trade and all the accompanying evils that go with this sort of gangland violence should be condemned utterly and we should seek to eliminate them. However, I have heard little in the way of actual solutions, particularly from the Government and the main Opposition party, Fianna Fáil. Hand wringing, condemnation and posturing - all hot air - does not solve the problem. While I have great sympathy for an under-resourced and understaffed Garda Síochána and communities, especially those in rural areas who have lost local Garda stations and who are concerned about that and want to see them returned, I believe that no matter how many gardaí are assigned to deal with this problem, it will not be solved. It has not worked anywhere else and it will not work here.

The US is one of the most heavily policed countries in the world and has one of the largest prison populations in the world, yet it is one of the most violent societies in the world and is racked with gangland violence. Despite all the efforts going back to the 1920s and 1930s to deal with mobsters, the Mafia and violent crime, it has failed abysmally. Generation after generation, gangland, Mafia-style and mobster violence reproduces itself.

Russia is another country that is particularly associated with this. Russia is a virtual police state that is incredibly repressive and brutal and is willing to use the most ruthless means to police its population generally and to go after elements, criminal or otherwise, that it considers a problem. Does it stop criminality and Mafia-style violence in Russia? Not at all. Along with the US, it is one of the countries that is worst impacted by this kind of gangland and mobster-style violence.

Deploying police to deal with the problem, building prisons and increasing prison populations simply does not work. We must deepen our analysis of why this sort of crime reproduces itself, especially in developed societies. It is quite obvious to me why this is the case. Imagine a ten, 11 or 12 year old child living in emergency accommodation because his or her family has been turfed out by a landlord, possibly for the second or third time, and the family members have no idea when they will have a permanent or secure roof over their heads. As is often the case, they are put into hostels that are drug-infested and completely unsuitable for young people. Imagine the child's difficulty in trying to engage properly with school. In any event, guidance counsellors have been cut in schools so there is no counselling available. In the area where the child lives, youth outreach projects have been slashed where previously people were employed to reach out to young people and work with them to try to link them with important services, including mental health services, and to try to resource and provide alternative activities that would steer them away from the apparently attractive life of crime or the money that can be made from involvement in the drugs trade.

What does it feel like for a ten, 11 or 12 year old in that sort of situation? Would the Minister feel resentful or angry? Would she feel as though she had any stake in society or would she feel very angry? What if that was compounded by abuse, mental health problems, a history of drug addiction in the family and there were no services available? How likely is it that one would end up involved in crime? Frankly, it is amazing that more young people are not involved in crime and that somehow most kids still manage to battle through those desperate situations despite the lack of support and resources from the health services in the area of mental health, special needs assistants, resource hours and counselling in school. Is it any wonder that some do not, that they develop resentment towards society and fall into the world of crime and drugs? What is surprising is that more young people do not.

One can identify them. During the televised leaders' debate before the election and several times in the Dáil, I raised a small project in my area called the Oasis project. I will keep talking about it because it is in one of the most disadvantaged areas in the Dún Laoghaire borough. The project workers on that project can tell who the next gangland criminals will be. They can tell at the age of ten or 11 who are the ones who will get involved in violence, drugs and criminality, but it is not inevitable. Where these small projects are in place they can save these young people and steer them in alternative directions. I can only tell the Minister anecdotally, although the World Health Organisation confirms it, that people with mental health or developmental problems are massively disproportionately represented in prison populations in every single country in the world. I can say anecdotally, because they come into my clinic and I know them from around my area, that people who were in industrial schools or Magdalene laundries, who had undiagnosed dyspraxia, dyslexia or other developmental problems, who had major housing issues or had abuse issues in their family are massively and disproportionately represented in our prison and criminal population. In all of those areas we have slashed the services and support at education, health and every other level that would help to provide alternatives and steer young people away from criminality. All the talk about dealing with crime is hypocrisy unless we get in at ground level and give our young people alternatives.

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