James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The raid in Ballymahon post office in County Longford on Monday last highlights the breakdown of law and order. Let us try to imagine what it would be like to be a 17 year old and to wake up to find an armed man standing in your bedroom, threatening you. That was the fate of a young girl, whose only crime was to be the daughter of the local postmaster in Ballymahon. This girl is an innocent victim of our rapidly increasing rate of anti-social behaviour.

The raid on the Ballymahon post office was not an isolated incident in County Longford, however. There were similar raids in Colehill, Edgeworthstown, Tashinney and on the Bank of Ireland in Ballymahon. In County Westmeath, there were armed raids in the last few months in Glassin, Horseleap and Athlone. Building sites in Keenagh, Granard, Lanesboro and Longford town are being cleaned out on a nightly basis.

Numerous representations have been made to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform seeking an increase in Garda numbers in County Longford and a request for a meeting between the Minister and a council delegation was made more than a year ago. However, when the Minister came to County Longford recently to open a new child care facility and sign documents relating to prison decentralisation, he made no effort to meet the local councillors to discuss the problems of raids and Garda numbers. This has led people in Longford to make accusations of unhealthy arrogance on the part of the Minister. He has snubbed the town and county councillors. The councillors were not made aware of his impending visit and only learned of it because the Mayor is a member of the executive that signed the decentralisation documentation.

The current uproar over the lack of consultation on Garda manpower is ironic, given that the Garda Síochána Bill brings community policing to the forefront, with consultation bodies to be set up following its passing into law. Local councillors in County Longford welcome the opportunity to become more involved in police decisions, as envisaged in the Bill. However, they are wondering from where the extra gardaí required for community policing will come. The Government has continued to renege on its commitment in this regard.

Where are the extra 2000 gardaí that were promised? Longford, Ballymahon and Lanesboro need extra gardaí as do almost every town and village in the county and, indeed, the rest of the country. If the Government cannot provide the additional manpower required, what hope do we have?

Fine Gael believes that the law is biased against the victims of burglary and armed trespass. It calls on the Government to review legislation in this area, with a view to re-balancing the scales to protect the victims and impose tougher sentences on criminals. Assaults, violent incidents, fatalities, break-ins and so on, are an everyday occurrence. One only has to turn on the radio or pick up a newspaper to be aware of this. Rural policing needs to be stepped up, not scaled back. Dublin gangs are now targeting rural areas. Having a Garda presence in an area is the greatest deterrent to criminals. Security can be increased by providing more patrol cars and extra resources, including gardaí on the beat.

It is worrying that, over the past three years, more than 1,300 firearms have been stolen from rural homes and gun dealerships throughout the country. Most of these weapons have found their way into the hands of criminal gangs. This begs the question as to why such a large volume of illegally held arms is to be found in country areas. Is law and order breaking down to such an extent that rural dwellers must adopt a wild west approach to ensuring their own safety? Gun rule will become the norm in our society unless the Government rectifies the appalling situation in which we now find ourselves. The extreme anti-social behaviour that currently exists in many areas, and to which several Opposition Members have referred, is very annoying for citizens, particularly the elderly.

The closure of many small rural Garda stations has left areas without the security that such a Garda presence would bring. This applies especially to old people and other vulnerable sections in rural communities. It is totally unacceptable that people cannot go about their daily lives without fear of intimidation. This desperate situation is being brought home to us repeatedly on the doorsteps, yet the Government is doing nothing apart from spinning and emitting lots of hot air.

Figures produced by the Health Research Board at the end of last year showed that drug use outside Dublin almost trebled between 1998 and 2002. Alcohol consumption and drug abuse is directly related to the lack of youth facilities and measures to assist the most marginalised young people. It is essential to bring them into the fold, rather than pushing them further to the outer limits of society.

The introduction of anti-social behaviour orders could lead to an unprecedented and counter-productive increase in the number of young people being detained, according to solicitors dealing with criminal cases in the United Kingdom. Under such orders, behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress is capable of including everyone from serious criminals to people whose appearance makes us feel uneasy. Realistically, anti-social behaviour in juveniles can be tackled using a wide range of measures under the Children Act 2001.

The Government must honour its commitment to recruit 2,000 extra gardaí. In addition, minimum sentencing should be introduced for repeat offenders and a properly organised and researched crime unit should be established to tackle crime.

People are enraged when free legal aid is provided for criminals. I hope the Minister will take that issue on board. It is sickening for people to hear that free legal aid is being provided to someone who may have committed a serious crime.