Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I wish to share my time with Senator White.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I agree with Senators who stated that the increased crime figures are worrying. Crime is an issue I have been fortunate enough to come across only as a politician generally, but for the first time ever the house of a member of my family was burgled recently, and a friend of mine was recently mugged and badly beaten around the face in a senseless way. It is important that we provide support for victims of crime. Many people like to appear strong, but it is important that they are encouraged to take up any counselling needed in the aftermath of a criminal act.

I want to respond to some of the points made by the Minister. I welcome the information the Minister has given about crime figures, his promise of quarterly reports and also the committee to review the method of producing crime statistics. The Minister stated it was not possible to provide a geographical analysis of crime figures. That kind of information is important and needs to be addressed. I can understand factoring population increases into the current figures, but it is important, in terms of crime prevention, to point out that we need to keep developments in infrastructure and resources in line with those population increases.

I agree with the Minister's point about the importance of the causes of crime. An aspect which the British Labour Party developed is that one needs to be tough on the causes of crime. The Minister mentioned marginalisation, etc., but on the other hand it must be said to the Government that the cutbacks in such areas as education, local authority housing funding and facilities are all working against such an approach. If the Government says it will do something about the causes of crime, it needs to invest in local community infrastructure.