Noel Coonan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister, whose contribution was most enlightening. He has been described by Members on the other side of the House as a reforming Minister, but we on this side will take our time and judge him on his actions. We wish him well in his work during the coming years.

There is no doubt that the drink culture which has enveloped the country has contributed significantly to the rise in the number of public order offences. I am delighted that the Minister referred to the issue of public order and that the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill will be introduced to deal with many of these offences.

The changes to late night opening hours introduced by the previous Government should be re-examined. It is when pubs and clubs close in the early hours that difficulties arise. Gardaí are in the dreadful position of trying to deal with the hooligans who, drunk out of their minds, leave pubs and clubs and go into chip shops and take aways. Any garda who has been on night duty will tell one that most of the trouble starts outside establishments of this nature. An argument erupts and is usually followed by the type of violent crime about which we too often read in the newspapers.

Mobile phone theft, to which a previous speaker referred, is extremely prevalent, particularly as it relates to schoolchildren who are being assaulted and having their mobile phones stolen, which is absolutely disgraceful. I understand that in Amsterdam and other places stolen mobile phones can be rendered inoperable. The Minister and the Garda should investigate the possibility of putting in place mechanisms here which would facilitate this. I believe the number of mobile phone thefts in Amsterdam has been significantly reduced as a result of the action taken there.