Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I warmly welcome the Minister and I welcome his important statement. There is no difference in the priority given by both Government parties in tackling the areas of justice and crime and giving them the resources and political attention they needs. Fianna Fáil will be giving the Minister the same amount of support that his party gave his predecessor, Deputy O'Donoghue.

The Leas-Cathaoirleach referred to the tenure of former Deputy Nora Owen as Minister for Justice. She was perhaps slightly hard done by, but that is the nature of politics. She did not get the support of her colleagues in Government who were members of other parties. They felt that the problem of crime did not deserve the type of priority that, by the time of the death of Veronica Guerin, it clearly needed. Solidarity in the Government on the importance of this area is vital and it is evident at present.

I agree that we need a credible information base – the main point of the Minister's speech. I welcome his determination to provide it. He said the Government was anxious to place policy-making within the criminal justice system on a firm evidence based foundation with less tolerance for hunches or knee-jerk reactions. That was exactly the approach of Seán Lemass in government.

The Garda needs to do more than collect statistics. The public finds very frustrating its attitude of impotence to less serious crime. The friend of a family member recently reported an incident to me. He uses a bicycle for transport and has quite an expensive one. This was stolen, even though the incident was covered by a CCTV camera. It was impossible to get the college authorities to review footage from the camera, even if it had been turned on. When he went to the local Garda station, he was asked if he realised he was simply adding to the statistics. That attitude applies to many crimes which are serious enough for the people who suffer from them. This is a cause of great frustration.

I would like this debate to be balanced. We should record the Garda successes, for example, in dealing with dissident and subversive crime in the past four years. You, a Leas-Chathaoirligh, made reference to the case of Detective Garda McCabe. Like you, I am glad of the court judgment. In an earlier capacity, the morning after that terrible event I told a representative of Sinn Féin that whatever settlement was reached over prisoners, those responsible for that act would be excluded. My leader said the same thing at the time and that has been the position. It has been very controversial and many have challenged it. However, I believe the Government is within its rights to do so and I am glad this has been upheld by the High Court.