Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I am glad the Fine Gael Party tabled this motion. It generated a lively, interesting debate, the House reached a consensus on many issues and Senators shared their experiences, many in graphic detail, of the type of anti-social behaviour taking place throughout the country. This issue is relevant to the ordinary person in the street and affects communities everywhere so it is no surprise that we had such a lively debate.

The Minister devoted most of his speech to anti-social behaviour orders. As I stated in my opening speech, too much emphasis has been placed on these orders. Instead of honing in on them, we should introduce preventative and support measures and tackle the symptoms of anti-social behaviour, including poverty and deprivation. The Minister failed to address any of these issues or my comments on the Government's policy on the Children Act, to which it does not appear to be committed. He did not, for example, respond to my remarks on the sections of the Act dealing with supervision and community sanctions.

The Fine Gael Party also made proposals on generating finance. We have taken a constructive approach and offered a positive policy. The Minister stated once again that all these matters would be addressed in his amendments to the Criminal Justice Bill. We asked when this would happen because we are fed up with talk but little action from the Minister. We had more rhetoric tonight but people on the street who are affected by anti-social behaviour every day want to see action. Our motion calls for that action.