Chris Andrews (Dublin Bay South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. It is not an ideal way to process legislation but it is important that we are dealing with it as the alternative would be chaos.

Sinn Féin supports the Bill. We have tabled an amendment to ensure that Garda court presenters are not below the rank of sergeant. This allows prosecuting gardaí to focus on serious crime in higher courts. Gardaí need to be utilised in an efficient and effective way. They play such an important role in communities across the country and the last thing we need is gardaí tied up in court when they could be utilised more effectively.

The same applies when gardaí are tied up, as mentioned previously, doing desk duties and endless paperwork when they could be out doing the jobs they are particularly good at. The amount of paperwork gardaí have to do is madness. The amount of time a simple statement takes makes no sense in an era of technology.

Gardaí need to be working with communities and they need to be resourced to do so. A concrete example of the lack of Garda resources in the south inner city is that Pearse Street Garda station does not have a minibus to work with community groups. Pearse Street Garda station is one of the busiest stations in the country, yet it does not have a minibus. This means the engagement between gardaí and the local community is limited. The work community gardaí do is crucial when it comes to dealing with young people and keeping them engaged in society in a positive way. In many ways, as I have mentioned in the House previously, the Mulvey report has divided the city. It has divided the north inner city community from the south inner city community. They are effectively one community but the Mulvey report has divided it to a point where the north inner city has significant resources to work with communities. On the southside, however, Pearse Street Garda station does not have a minibus to work with local communities. That is a reflection of the lack of the required resources in the inner city. I have said previously that the findings of the Mulvey report should be mirrored on the south inner city.

Again, this is an important Bill and we support it, with an amendment.

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