Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I have no problem with the Order of Business. I am somewhat reluctant to support Senator Hayes in regard to No. 2. I read the High Court judgment on the Abbeylara inquiry and it did not make great reading for Members of the Oireachtas. There was a succession of mistakes made and we would need to be well advised before we return to the area again. First, we must get the constitutional and legal matters sorted out.

Will the Leader provide time for a debate on a disturbing story on the front page of this morning's edition of the Irish Examiner? It relates to a claim by the respected campaigner for the homeless, Fr. Peter McVerry, that homeless persons are routinely assaulted in four Garda stations in Dublin. This is disturbing regardless of the view taken on its veracity. It is a classic example of the type of situation that should be dealt with by an independent Garda authority, which we do not have. It is unfair to the Garda that there is no process to deal with such complaints. It is also unfair to society. There is a certain irony in the situation developing in Northern Ireland where convicted terrorists may well end up supervising the police while ordinary law-abiding citizens down here have a sense that the Garda is not accountable to them at all. It is a matter of urgency that we debate the case mentioned and the wider issue of the proper accountability of the Garda.

Senator Hayes raised the issue of crime. It is right that the related issue of alcohol should be raised by one such as me, who is fond of a few jars. I do not believe the laws in regard to under age drinking are sufficiently rigorously enforced. Any parent of teenage children knows that this is the case. Unless parents lock up their children, they know they are not safe in this regard. A cultural shift is necessary in order to create an impetus for the enforcement of the law in this respect.

The last time I raised this issue an angry senior member of the Garda contacted me and said I was criticising the force. I was to the degree that the gardaí involved were not doing their job, but the issue is greater than that. Violent crime in society cannot be separated from the 50% increase in the per capita consumption of alcohol over the past five years.