Sheila Terry (Fine Gael)

Yesterday, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform announced that he is considering the establishment of a reserve Garda force, which would be made up of approximately 1,200 voluntary people, to patrol the streets. We have heard many proposals from the Minister recently. On each occasion the Angelus bells ring, he seems to get divine inspiration. I again ask that the Minister come before the House to outline his proposals on this reserve force. A few weeks ago, the Minister for Transport, Deputy Brennan, suggested he would set up a special traffic corps, only then to discover it would be unconstitutional. Has the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform investigated his suggestion properly to discover whether the reserve Garda force would be unconstitutional?

It is important that the Minister should come before the House to debate these matters and also the situation in prisons. Yesterday, the Prison Officers' Association said that the timeframe for the Minister's proposals for reform is unacceptable and unmanageable. It is important that this matter be dealt with or we will have a crisis in our prisons.