Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

The fact is, and this House knows it well, that anti-social behaviour must be dealt with on a number of fronts. It must be dealt with in terms of disadvantage and the education system — keeping those children who are most at risk in education by all possible means. It must also be dealt with through community policing, as has been said. I was glad my Department was in a position to assist the Joint Committee on Justice, Equality, Defence and Women's Rights in sending a delegation recently to Britain to see how community policing is working there, as part of the preparation of the report that has been produced on that issue. It is a useful and constructive report.

In addition to all the extra policing resources, the reform of the Garda Síochána, the changes as regards laws on intoxicating liquor, which have happened and will happen, and the changes I have introduced to do with public order offences, we must have provision for an anti-social behaviour order as part of the available series of remedies for those people who are being let down by the state of our laws. I am quite happy to bring that forward.

Garda youth diversion projects are, of course, a matter of great importance. As the Government's amendment points out, the number of such projects has grown from 12 in 1997 to 64 in 2005. Youth diversion projects and other strategies such as those contemplated by the Children Act are the way forward as regards most forms of juvenile delinquency. There is still a hard core of people, both adults and teenagers, who pose a serious threat to the well-being of their neighbours. They make their neighbours' lives hell and make it difficult for people with decent standards to bring up their children in some localities because even to stand up for decency is in itself to become the target of abuse and intimidation. It is undoubtedly true that those people deserve the protection of our law and that is why anti-social behaviour orders will be put in place.

I agree with Senator Brian Hayes that the Garda Síochána must have links and roots in every part of the community. Most people who have an interest in criminal justice can recall what Michael Staines, the first Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, said as to how the civic guards he was establishing in the pangs of a Civil War would have to operate with the support of the people as an unarmed force. That is, most certainly, the way forward for the Garda Síochána. We have seen in Northern Ireland what happens when a police force becomes alienated for one reason or another from the communities it serves.

I believe the linkages between the Garda Síochána and local communities need to be strengthened. One of the ways to do this is through community policing. Another way, as Senator Brian Hayes pointed out, is to ensure that ethnically, geographically and socio-economically, a broadly representative police force is recruited. We are on Committee Stage of the Garda Síochána Bill in Dáil Éireann. Last night I was discussing these issues with the Opposition spokespersons and I indicated that one of the amendments we propose to make to the Bill, which has been debated at length in this House as well, was to make provision for that type of criterion to be fed into the recruitment process, lest it should be said that some form of positive discrimination to do with ethnic, geographic and socio-economic representivity was excluded or ultra vires, for some technical reason. This could happen, for example, if someone were to claim it was purely to be done on the basis of how many points were obtained in the leaving certificate, or whatever, as a more objective standard for the evaluation of recruits.

We must have a volunteer Garda reserve force. It is essential for a number of reasons. In every parish or community in Ireland there are some people who have a direct involvement with the Garda Síochána and who are available to come and assist gardaí in the carrying out of their duties. In the past the representative associations have feared that this would be to introduce some form of "yellow pack" policing. This is not the case in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada or Australia. It is not regarded in those countries as having that function.

In our situation, it is a tangible link between the Garda Síochána and the community it serves. Just as much as the former FCA, now the Reserve Defence Force, is a pillar of support in the community for the Army, so would a volunteer reserve force be for the Garda Síochána. It would be a tangible link for it in every community in Ireland. It is a good idea that in every two or three roads there will be one or two people with uniforms they put on at weekends or whenever necessary, to come out and assist the Garda Síochána in enforcing the law. It is a good, not a bad idea. It would be greatly to the benefit of the Garda Síochána if such a force is created, as is provided for in the Garda Síochána Bill, which has gone through this House and which, shortly I hope, will have gone through Dáil Éireann as well.

Far from weakening the leverage or the strength or importance of the Garda Síochána, it will strengthen that force and build up new links to the community, which are necessarily weakening now in an era where people commute 30 and 40 miles by car to police communities with which they have no connection. The truth is that in Northern Ireland, for security reasons, members of the police force had to live away from many of the places they had to police. There is no reason for that type of phenomenon in Ireland, but house prices, new socio-economic habits and a different lifestyle have led to a situation where many people are policing communities in which they do not live. We have gone past the situation where one could require the young garda recruit to live in the barracks until the day that he married, the John McGahern era in Irish policing. Members of the Garda Síochána are entitled to live where they want and we cannot require them to live in State-provided accommodation, or anything like that. However, substitute linkages with the local community can be provided so that policing in communities is not entirely of a commuting nature.

I welcome cross-party support for the initiatives we are taking on anti-social behaviour. I emphasise that ASBOs cannot of themselves be 100% of the solution or a majority part of the solution because more deep seated issues must be dealt with. I will address a number of them in the near future with exciting proposals to radically reform the way in which our educational infrastructure is used to deal with disadvantage, both before and after school, to ensure children who are being failed by the education system are assisted by means of breakfast and homework clubs. This will help them to stay in touch with and involved in the education process and ensure they are not found loitering around estates with nothing to do in the afternoon when the devil makes work for idle hands.

I also strongly believe that the Garda needs to be substantially reformed. The Garda Síochána Bill 2004 is not the be all and end all of reform of the force but it is the sure foundation upon which reform can happen. The new emphasis on community policing and a stronger emphasis on the value of highly visible policing in the community must be pursued. That requires the additional numbers I am recruiting to the force. They must still be highly trained, which means that I cannot click my fingers and produce them just like that, but they are coming on stream and more than 14,000 members will be in uniform by the end of 2006. However, it is not enough to increase budgets and strength; the effectiveness of policing must also be increased. Effectiveness in many cases requires a new respect and value for front line policing in the community and deeper links between gardaí and the communities they serve. Those initiatives will go some way to dealing with ASBOs and will make a substantial contribution.

The ASBO proposal will not be a slavish repetition of what happened in Britain. However, it worked there and the House of Commons report indicates it is an effective way forward. The proposal will be dovetailed into our juvenile justice system but, in the case of adults, it will provide a solid new power for the courts. We will, by means of all these initiatives, change the climate in Ireland and give those people who are under siege in their communities a strong sense of hope that there is a society which offers them solutions to their problems.

When many people in our society see Article 40 of the Constitution, they think of the accused, the offender and so on. However, this article applies to all citizens and we are concerned with all their rights. Article 40 protects one's right to lead a decent life and is not solely something for lawyers to invoke as part of the criminal process when their clients are accused of an offence. It puts an obligation on the State to protect those who uphold and abide by the law in the enjoyment of their constitutional rights. ASBOs, in particular, are not merely necessary but they are effective and fair in striking the balance between the interests of those who abuse other people's rights and those who have inadequate defences and resources to assist in vindicating their rights.

While I welcome a debate on this subject and while I may have been dismissive of those who have formed the coalition against ASBOs, by all means let us have a political conversation and a vigorous debate on the issue but, in the last analysis, let us be real and let us talk about the people who are in the front line. Senator Norris had his difficulty with the tax inspectors.