Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The Bill restores the right of Garda court presenters to bring prosecutions by giving it a legal basis. Two weeks ago, the case of Garda Liam Varley and Mr. Ciarán Davitt came before the High Court. The judgment in this case was that there is no legal basis underpinning the system of Garda court presenters at District Court level. The effect of the decision is that no Garda other than the prosecuting Garda has a right of audience in respect of a case. This issue needs to be addressed by this Thursday, which is why we are here today discussing the emergency legislation. Having examined the Bill, Sinn Féin has submitted an amendment to ensure Garda court presenters are not below the rank of sergeant. If the Minister of State does not accept the amendment, the unintended consequence of the Bill will be that probationary gardaí will given the ability to act as court presenters.

We have grave concerns about this. Currently, Garda court presenters are mostly local sergeants. They represent the State in court proceedings by setting out the offence committed, including details of an arrest, charge and caution, along with an outline of the circumstances of the offence. They do this whether they are the prosecuting garda or not. This allows the State prosecutor to focus on the more serious cases in the higher courts. This is a well-established system across the State and has been in place since 1948. We in Sinn Féin have not opposed this Bill due to the emergency nature of the amendment required to restore the power of Garda court presenters. We will support the passage of the Bill through both Houses. However, this is an unsatisfactory way for the Minister for Justice and the Government to conduct business, especially with regard to the prosecution of those before the courts.

I also raise the issue of Garda numbers and visibility. If a garda from Rathangan in County Kildare is in court, one other garda is left in the station. If that other garda has a day off, there is nobody in that station. It is the same in Castledermot in County Kildare. Recently, a garda was on the street in Kildare town. Several people said to me that is rare. That is shocking. We need more gardaí. They need to be more visible. There needs to be less red tape, which ties gardaí up.

We need to look at court conditions and the capacity of the courts. Deputy Martin Kenny spoke about that. We have courts in antiquated buildings. We only have one judge in Kildare. He is doing the best he can in difficult circumstances but he is under immense pressure. The list often stretches to double figures and it needs to be addressed.

I recently discovered there are just nine drugs personnel in County Kildare. They do amazing work and punch well above their weight with the number of seizures, but we need more than nine. There is currently a drugs epidemic in south Kildare. We need to do something about it.

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