Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

I looked at the briefing paper. We agree, as I think most people here do, that we should reduce the timeframe from seven to two years for the disposal of assets identified as proceeds of crime. The Bill strengthens the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, giving it power to restrain and seize assets before the High Court. A process introduces new restraint orders to prevent transactions linked to suspected proceeds of crime and the automatic appointment of a receiver to private individuals' benefits from criminal assets. We certainly agree with all these things.

However, we should focus going forward on nipping crime in the bud. That is what we are failing to do at this time. I hate to agree with the Deputy in a statement he made a moment ago, but I have to because it is common sense that we have lost the law on drugs. He said the law on drugs is lost. It is a sad statement to make, but it is a factual statement. Years of a lack of resources in An Garda Síochána have left us in that situation. It is neglect. I noticed in west Cork that the drugs unit in Bantry is now closed because - and I have raised the issue - of the lack of gardaí in west Cork. There is a Bandon drugs unit but, mother of God, there is a huge coastline from Mizen Head to Sheep's Head and the Beara Peninsula. I will not say it is unmanned, because there has been serious apprehension of drugs in recent years, even recently, by An Garda Síochána in west Cork. I commend Chief Superintendent Vincent O'Sullivan and his gardaí, but there is only so much he can work with. If the numbers are down, the numbers are facts and the facts are there. The number of gardaí in west Cork is down. I would appreciate if the Minister would send me the number of gardaí so that I can prove to him that it is down. How will the Minister turn that around?

When it comes to drugs they are brought in mainly by sea. I am surrounded by sea; my constituency is. The nearest parish west of mine is New York. I live on the Mizen Head. If I head to Barryroe or Timoleague, I am surrounded by sea. Kinsale and the whole area is on the sea. They are the areas the Minister needs to be spending his resources on. That is where the drugs are coming in and these guys are walking away free, unless An Garda Síochána is majorly on top of its game but it cannot be when it is under-resourced. That is an area the Minister needs to look at. We need to keep looking at how we nip crime in the bud along that line.

An issue I brought up last week, which is an important one, related to the towns and villages of west Cork, such as Skibbereen, Clonakilty and Dunmanway. I have been waiting for eight days for an answer from the Minister's Department about why CCTV was turned off in those towns. Surely be to God, he could give me a fair and honest answer in a couple of days and at least see where we are going with it. Councillor Daniel Sexton has raised it at council level and the council is not giving an answer other than that it will try to meet the Department this week to see where it can go. Why is CCTV being turned off? Is it being turned off throughout the rest of Ireland? It is leaving communities wide open. Local communities fundraised for it. The community lurks and the business watches to make sure it has that little bit of additional security so that if these lunatics are peddling drugs out there, they will be seen on CCTV. They know they are being watched by the local people, because An Garda Síochána cannot do everything. Then automatically - bang, bang, bang - switches went down last Tuesday in west Cork. CCTV was blacked out in west Cork last Tuesday and the Minister's Department cannot answer me in eight days as to why that happened.

Is there any hope of turning this around? How quickly can it be turned around for the safety of the people? I am being honest and fair. I wrote to the Minister twice. I ask him to answer the question, to give a fair and honest answer. Let us sit down with the bodies that be to see whether we can resolve this. I do not know whether there are others. I am told Kinsale, Bantry and Schull are still switched on. Are others in the country in the same situation? Are there more? Is this the way it has gone? Will CCTV be switched off in our country? That will make our communities extremely vulnerable and wide-open to crime. Why did the community alert groups meet with the local Garda Síochána in the first place to put it there? It was to keep their communities safe. Why are they switched off today? That answer needs to be forthcoming. I need that answer immediately. The Dáil should not be sitting this evening until we get straight answers. I do not care if it is this evening, tomorrow morning or Saturday or Sunday morning, I want an answer for those people. I keep asking for it and I am not getting it from the Minister. It looks like it has to come from his Department. I plead with the Minister once again to look into it. As far as I am concerned, it is a huge issue in west Cork in order that we can at least keep people safe.

Regarding young people, we need to encourage more from the Department or wherever in relation to gardaí. One initiative in west Cork has worked well. It is the Garda Youth Awards. They are trying to pat young people on the back, give them a purpose and let them know they have done some good and that they are there and things can be changed. The likes of Damien White, Brigid Hartnett, Jonathan McCarthy, Ian O'Callaghan, Don Davis and others put together the Garda Youth Award. Chloe Anne O'Callaghan from my area won it this year and others from other communities such as Bantry and elsewhere won it other year. It is a great way to give young people a boost. Everyone points the finger and tells young people they are involved in this and that. They are not. Chloe-Anne is not involved. She is a great athlete from my area and involved in all the community initiatives. She got a little bit of honour for that and it gave her a boost and gives others a boost to meet the same standard going forward.

We also have to look at the protection of gardaí. This is a serious issue. They have a responsibility of non-disclosure in their communities and they do not want to be whistleblowers, but they are concerned. They are out on the roads trying to prevent drugs coming into communities. There is one jeep and one BMW from Cork city all the way down to Castletownbere and gardaí have told me that when they stand on the side of the road, they have little or no coloured clothing in comparison with the ambulance service, which is completely well clothed and well covered. The Garda vehicles are not covered and the gardaí feel unsafe on the side of the road. Remember these are people who have young families. They are not making up the story. I would not come in making up a story because it is a serious issue, especially given recent events. That prompted their call that they need further and proper protective gear going forward, especially coloured gear, for their safety on the side of the road. They are keeping us safe in the long term. That is what they say to me. The vehicle is not properly illuminated. They are not properly illuminated in comparison with the ambulance service, which has complete and utter illuminated clothing. That is an area they would like the Minister to look into.

This Bill makes good reading. It tightens rules to prevent re-litigation on access to proceeds of crimes. It broadens CAB powers for data sharing domestically and internationally. It extends CAB staff anonymity provisions and reflects evolving EU asset confiscation standards but does not fully address international protocols. In its approach to crime prevention and deterrents, the Bill focuses specifically on targeting the financial assets of criminals.

Independent Ireland is focused on stricter sentencing and eliminating suspended sentences for serious crimes and supporting Garda retention. Independent Ireland was very clear that we need stricter sentences. Often, when I look at sentences, I scratch my head, because some very serious crimes get very light sentences. On the other hand, someone might steal something - which is not a good thing to do and they must be apprehended - and might have even given back the money and they still get a jail sentence. I wonder if there could be a better balance because we see a lot of heavy crimes being walked around. I listened to some of the parties here today who said they support this and that there is concern in their communities about it. I will pick one party, the Social Democrats, whose mission statement says the party believes: "that in line with international best-practice, a policy of decriminalisation should be pursued in respect of the possession of drugs for personal consumption." I do not agree with that, because if we are going to accept it in the back door, we may as well accept it in the front door. That is a crazy system. They cannot come in here afterwards and say that the country has gone mad in relation to drugs' crime if they are saying that in a small way it is fine. It is not; drugs are drugs and that is the bottom line. The only time I ever stood up here for any type of drugs was for medicinal cannabis for a very ill child. That type of set up is totally different.

I would appreciate if the Minister would look into the areas I mentioned, especially CCTV, which is a huge issue. The Minister should consider how he can further support Garda youth awards and our gardaí, be they in west Cork, Galway or wherever else. There should be more gardaí on the beat. I will pick out one garda in west Cork, Jonathan McCarthy, who lives in the area. He nips crime in the bud. He knows where it is going wrong before it goes wrong. I have seen young people going wrong and I have seen him putting them right, because he is living in Ballydehob. That is difficult because the locals go to his door to call him and tell him he is needed somewhere. That is not fair and it is difficult for a garda but he is an example of great type of garda we have. They really know how to help a community to make sure things get sorted and usually it irons itself out. That is the type of garda we need in the force and that we need to be promoting in our communities and we need more of them. We do not have that many of them. They are not there because they are not adequately resourced and I would appreciate the Minister working on that going forward.

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