David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will not take the full 15 minutes. First, I apologise to both the House and the Minister on behalf of an Teachta O'Brien, who was not able to make it for personal reasons. Obviously, the Deputy would have been here if he could, and he asked me to raise a number of points on his behalf.

I welcome the opportunity to speak on these figures today. One of the issues that an Teachta O'Brien asked me to raise with the Minister was that it would have been preferable for these issues and the Estimates to be dealt with at the justice committee, as has been the case in the past. I am a member of the Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach, which was attended today by the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, who spoke about the Estimates in his Department. That was done at committee level. As a matter of good practice, it is a better way to deal with these issues. Deputy O'Brien asked me to say that from the outset.

I welcome the additional €40 million being given to An Garda Síochána. We all have been crying out for additional resources for An Garda Síochána for many years. Those of us who were in opposition for years and those who are now in opposition, along with those in government who wanted to spend more money in this area but could not at the time, can all welcome the fact that this €40 million of additional funding is being made available. I also note that a further €15 million will be reassigned to the Garda Vote from elsewhere within the justice group in a technical measure later in the year. It is essential that the Minister stipulate exactly where the additional €15 million is coming from. It would be madness - there would be no point - to rob Peter to pay Paul, if Members will pardon the pun. We need to see where else exactly within the Minister's overall budget this funding will come from.

I also note that there is an allocation of €875 million in capital funding for the justice sector alongside multiple public-private partnership, PPP, projects. My party's position on PPPs is a matter of public record and we would question the wisdom of significant PPP investment in much-needed infrastructure when the record of delivery in this area has been far from ideal. The PPPs will be used to develop Garda projects, yet we have not received any real detail of what these projects are.

We have also called on numerous occasions for money seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau to be ring-fenced and channelled back into the communities that are most affected by crime. Indeed, this was Fine Gael policy in the early 2000s, yet it never happened. I note as well that an important meeting took place between the Taoiseach and representatives from the inner city area of Dublin to deal with the real issues of criminality in that community, but also the issues of disadvantage and underdevelopment and the need to invest in these communities. Would that not be one way of doing so, and is there any reason it has not been done in the past? As I said, it was formerly a policy of the Minister's party. It would make sense.

Apparently, an investment of €205 million has been allocated for the new Garda Síochána technology systems, but the anecdotal evidence from gardaí on the beat is that they are still using their own mobile phones on occasion to communicate. If additional funding has been allocated for new technology systems, that should not be happening. The Minister might comment on that as well.

Irish justice policy has been characterised in the past by waste and an illogical and unproductive emphasis on imprisonment when the State would have been far better to invest in crime prevention measures and schemes that have a demonstrable effect on reducing reoffending. We acknowledge that there have been some moves in this direction in recent years and we were supportive of those moves when they were put in place by the previous Government, but there is still scope for significant improvement in this area. There are large numbers of people who end up in the criminal justice system who would be far better off receiving assistance from the social work and health care systems. I am not talking about those who are involved in the big crimes. I am not talking about the drug lords or those at the heart of the criminality that is terrifying people on the streets of Dublin. I am talking about the lower levels of crime, where it need not always be about imprisonment. It is about adopting more creative ways of dealing with offenders, but also more productive ways and ways that benefit both the person who has offended and the State. As I said, I acknowledge the good work that has been done in this area, but we have an awful lot more to do.

Preventative measures that work will reduce crime. Knee-jerk responses have never worked. Snappy soundbites do not work. I have seen far too much of that in the past. I am not accusing the Minister of this, but I have seen many former Ministers for justice beat their chests and talk tough when it comes to crime, yet the real action does not happen and the resources are not being put to their appropriate use.

Politicians jump up and down and create much noise but unless it is backed up by resources and sound policy, that is all it amounts to. We need to see proper outcomes. Increased funds should be directed towards preventative measures, including investing in early intervention where there is systemic social and educational disadvantage, in conjunction with spending on supports to reintegrate former prisoners which are also key to crime reduction.

As I stated, I will not take the full 15 minutes but I am sure Teachta Jonathan O'Brien will raise various other issues with the Minister in due course.

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