Mattie McGrath (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to speak on this Estimate. I welcome the Minister and I am delighted that she was reappointed to this portfolio. She has made a vast improvement since she took it over. We have a very sanitised relationship with her, as does the Garda Síochána, unlike some of her predecessors, the one previous to her especially.

We need a Garda Síochána force. We have been proud of it since the inception of the State. Gardaí cannot police without the support of the public. That has been recognised all over the world. I salute An Garda Síochána, the men and women who go out every day of the week on front-line duties and face all kinds of threats. That is not only in Dublin, as has been seen recently, although I welcome the impetus put into dealing with these marauding gangs of terrorists here.

The Minister met the people of mid-Tipperary last year. There are still pressures there. New recruits are coming out of Templemore and we are promised five in Clonmel in the next tranche of recruits. We need them badly. The numbers are on the floor in the Tipperary division. Under Chief Superintendent Catherine Kehoe and the superintendents in the southern half of the county we are at an all-time low, especially when members are out sick or on maternity leave or holidays. We need a visible presence. In our area there has been a community garda for the past few years, Garda Niall O’Halloran, and he is doing tremendous work. He is in the station. He is available, he is at matches and he is involved in the community alert scheme. We have text alerts set up with many groups and they know he is there. People have to know the garda. If they go in to get a form signed, a bit of information will be passed innocuously. This is not the informer. That taboo has to be banished. It is us standing up for ourselves. When people ask about the community alert scheme - I have been the chairman of my own scheme for years - I say “It is you and I looking after each other. If we do not look out for each other, nobody else can be expected to do so.”

We need the numbers and we need the support. The AGSI and the GRA need to have negotiating rights and be allowed to have them and not be depending on some other group in talks to have a vote for them. They need full recognition and rights to negotiate for themselves and receive respect for their very dangerous occupation. We saw the murder of two gardaí in recent years. There are daily attacks on them. At protests here they are treated shamefully by some of the protesters, in the name of free speech and protest. I have witnessed them spitting at the gardaí and threatening them with all kinds of vile abuse.

I ask the Minister to visit the Garda station in Clonmel, the biggest inland town. It is a Dickensian station. There is a plan to relocate to the old army barracks, which we should never have lost. I ask her to visit and see for herself. There is an increased Estimate for the refurbishment and building of Garda stations. We badly need it. It is not fit for purpose and the members of the Garda Síochána deserve better, as do the public in Clonmel. Beidh fíor fáilte roimh an Aire in Cluan Meala.

I also ask the Minister to look at the restorative justice project in Nenagh. It is a wonderful project. The gardaí visit the schools. Their involvement with Foróige and youth groups and the youth diversion projects is invaluable. They have been cut to the bone in recent years and volunteers are trying to carry on services where there is a limited number of staff. The Tipperary Regional Youth Service and the Waterford Diocesan Regional Youth Service are looking for projects and they are on the Minister’s desk. We want support for those because they do invaluable work in getting people involved at an early age, keeping them involved in civic society and having respect for institutions such as an Garda Síochána.

There has not been a superintendent in Cahir district for five or six years since Superintendent Duggan retired. There have been inspectors, and a very good one in Inspector Eddie Golden, but we need the superintendent level there because the stripping away of these services and officers is not acceptable. We also need a decent fleet. The purchase of the vans was a great idea because they are quite mobile and visible. They can also carry a prisoner and seized property or whatever. The fleet has improved in Tipperary, but we need more high-powered vehicles for the special units because, with the onset of the motorway, which is a great service for Tipperary, it is too easy for marauding gangs of thugs to maraud, attack and prey on families in rural communities an hour or an hour and a half from Dublin. Some years ago I asked that CCTV be put on the major junctions on and off the motorway and I was told it could not be done. We need that to monitor the kinds of people entering and leaving our county with bad intent. Visitors are all welcome to Tipperary - it should not be said they are not - but not these kinds of visitors. They are unwelcome and they must be hunted down and dealt with.

We need a big shake-up in the court system and a review of free legal aid - one or two strikes and out. Ordinary people cannot be paying for these people to have free legal aid 20, 30 and 40 times.

We must also examine sentences and the use of the Garda by sheriffs and other agencies. Homes are being seized with the aid of Garda time and resources. Homes should not be seized unless people have another to go to. Garda resources are stretched enough. I have come across a third force a few times. There is no room for that in this country. It has acted in different places, involving people with balaclavas, dogs and marauding people, while gardaí are nearby. That should not be allowed in any modern democracy. All we have are An Garda Síochána and the Army. We must not have a third force acting with balaclavas and intimidating and threatening people in the name of the law. That is not good enough.

I am all for supporting and resourcing An Garda Síochána. Above anything else, it has been cut too much. The traffic corps has been depleted. We need it on the roads, not as a money-raising effort but rather to watch those who are engaged in illegal activities and who want to carry out monstrosities and atrocities.

As I said, we should have restorative justice. People should not be in courts and jail for non-payment of fines. Some unfortunate people incur fines because their businesses have gone into liquidation. Garda time is being used to bring to prison people who are let out a few hours later. Restorative justice and community service should be used if necessary. We want root and branch reform of the court and justice systems, alongside support for An Garda Síochána.

I am glad Templemore has been reopened, but rebuilding Garda numbers to 15,000 will be slow. We should consider bringing back senior members of the force who retired over the past couple of years, particularly for special operations, because they have the knowledge, the expertise and, above all, the know-how. We need them to train new recruits who graduate from Templemore and can learn from experienced members. They have built up a significant repertoire of knowledge, expertise and know-how over service of 30 years or more. We should also re-examine the retirement age. I look forward to working constructively with the Minister, and I appeal to her to visit us in Tipperary as soon as she can.

See this speech in context