Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Seanad Éireann" and substitute the following:

—condemns the Government and the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform for their failure to deliver on their pre-election promise of 2,000 extra gardaí;

—regrets the minimal increase in the ranks of the Garda Síochána from 11,757 in June 2002 to the current strength of 12,117;

— welcomes the Minister's recent announcement of plans to recruit additional recruits to the Garda Síochána; and

—bemoans the failure of the Government to bring forward clear plans for the Garda College at Templemore, thereby facilitating the delivery of the ambitious Garda recruitment plans.

I welcome the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to the House. We are almost half way through the lifetime of the Government and it has suddenly dawned on the Minister that something must be done about his pre-election promise to provide 2,000 extra gardaí before the next general election. The electorate has not forgotten this promise as the Minister well knows from his candidates who sought support during the recent local elections.

This is the third time we have heard the Minister make this particular announcement on Garda numbers. Immediately on coming into office, the Minister backtracked on the promise, since which time he has attempted to resuscitate it in a series of rehashed announcements. The latest outing of the promise took place with great fanfare in the Phoenix Park last week. There were so many bits and pieces to the latest announcement that it seemed to be the product of many hours of creative thinking on the far side of St. Stephen's Green. It had the look of a proposal which was cobbled together with a bit here and a tweak there. The truth is that when the Minister and his colleagues made the promise in 2002, he knew that to fulfil it within the lifetime of the Government, the facilities at Templemore would have to be expanded. Over two years now have passed and, by the Minister's own admission, it will be a further year before an attempt is made to expand capacity at the Garda College. It appears the Minister was never serious about delivering on his commitment.

A fair way to review the veracity of someone's promises is to examine his or her past record to assess what he or she has delivered. Half way through the Government's term of office, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has delivered 243 extra gardaí. Despite the statistics quoted by Senators in support of the Minister, he has a great deal of catching up to do. Figures Fine Gael obtained from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform indicate that from 2002 to the end of this year 1,498 gardaí will have passed out from Templemore. In the same period the force lost 1,255 members due to ill-health, retirement, death or dismissal. Since the Government made its promise, the strength of the force has increased by an average of only 81 gardaí per year. This is a far cry from what was necessary and a statistic which has obviously jolted the Minister into some action at long last.

Crime statistics for the first half of 2004 show that the incidence of rape is 27% higher than in the first half of 2003. There has been a dramatic increase of 175% in the incidence of aggravated sexual assault while gun-related crime has also risen sharply. When Fine Gael left office in 1997, 90,875 indictable offences were recorded representing a 10% decrease on the previous year. In 2002, under this Minister's watch, 105,840 headline offences were recorded representing a 22% increase on the previous year. There are people in rural Ireland who are terrified in their own houses. Public order offences and alcohol-related violence take place on the streets of our cities and towns on a nightly basis. Finally, the Minister has awoken from his slumber and decided he must do something to deliver on his promise of extra gardaí, which we welcome.

While increasing Garda numbers alone will not solve our crime problem, Garda presence and visibility on the streets of our towns and villages goes a long way in the fight against crime. That is why the Government's promise to increase Garda strength to 14,000 is so badly needed. I question the will and the practicality of the Minister's proposed exercise. Why can he not come clean and say that he cannot deliver 2,000 extra gardaí in the lifetime of this Government? Why be so disingenuous as to suggest that 2,000 extra trained gardaí will be on the streets by 2007? Recruits and trainee gardaí cannot be classified as trained to police our streets. They must have the necessary training and experience before being classified as gardaí.

I repeat that the Minister's announcement last week was disingenuous. By his own admission he recognised the fundamental flaw in his PR stunt when he said: "It will lead to a combined organisational strength of both attested gardaí and recruits in training of 14,000". This is the actual state of affairs. The Minister agrees his promise cannot be honoured but he does not have the guts to admit it to the electorate.

My party made some constructive suggestions a few weeks ago which we are pleased the Minister has taken on board. Raising the entry age to the Garda Síochána from 26 to 35, or whatever the Commissioner feels appropriate, would increase the pool of potential new recruits. It would also allow into the force those with qualifications and life experiences obtained elsewhere. We also suggested the full implementation of the civilianisation of administrative posts currently being performed by gardaí, a matter alluded to earlier and with which Senator Dardis agreed. We also made reference to retired gardaí, another issue which the Government parties are regurgitating. We like to see our suggestions being taken on board.