David Norris (Independent)

Although attacks on the fire services are a new phenomenon, they happen regularly. Members of the fire and ambulance services are being savagely attacked. Mark Hogan, a fireman in his 20s with the Dublin Fire Brigade, was head butted on Aston Quay and a series of attacks took place in Cork, including one in which a crew member was hit on the headwith a bottle. The chairman of the National Firefighters Committee expressed disappointment that a recent review of health and safety issues for firefighters did not prioritise attacks on them as a significant concern. Are members of the fire services provided similar compensation to that available to the Garda? If not, will the Minister consider providing for such compensation? These people are saving lives and preventing homes from being burnt to the ground. We should consider some form of compensation for them when they are injured. I am glad to see the Minister nod his head and might be inspired to introduce an amendment on the issue.

The Minister noted that video recording of interviews has become a virtually universal practice in Garda stations. I welcome that because, while I am aware of instances in which crooks have shown the tapes in pubs, video recording is an important protection not only for the accused but also for the police. As regards powers to preserve a crime scene, I would have thought this provision to be a pretty obvious one.

Intimate samples, for which consent is required, have been redefined to exclude hair and mouth swabs. One should be very careful here because this redefinition represents an attack on bodily integrity. If we are to go down that route, we need to video the process so that allegations cannot be made that samples were violently or forcibly taken and that an alleged resistance to the taking of a swab cannot be given as an excuse for battering the hell out of somebody in a prison cell. A question also arises with regard to who will take the swab or hair sample. Will gardaí be trained to do so or will it be the responsibility of medically-qualified personnel? Given that the Minister may make regulations on this matter, this is one of those celebrated cases in which we should move from "may" to "shall".

The Minister was very persuasive on the issue of reopening cases. It is obscene to think a murderer could boast about his or her crime but never be held accountable because of the principle of double jeopardy.

Something has to be done about firearms. The amnesty is welcome in that respect but we should realise that society has changed. Contract killings, which we used to see in gangster films in the Carlton on Saturday afternoons, now take place in this country. We even know that the price of a life in Dublin is between €3,000 and €5,000. If the Minister is prepared to address this issue by means of legislation, we must help him do so.

I have doubts on the issue of fireworks, however, because I am not sure of the accuracy of the survey commissioned by the Minister. One has only to consider the number of people who buy fireworks or look at the skyline of Dublin whenever an opportunity arises to let off fireworks. On such evenings, I climb to my roof and watch them bursting all over the city. It is a matter for clear regulation rather than an outright ban. In the global context the only way to solve the importation of drugs is legalisation. The only way people will stop smuggling is if the financial incentive is destroyed but this cannot be done in one country alone. It must be done in a carefully monitored way.

Will the drugs register be a real register? The Dáil debated the nature of the sex offenders register and the drugs register should be a real register rather than something created for cosmetic purposes.

I am concerned about ASBOs. We read a story in today's newspaper of two teenage girls biting a garda so severely that he was hospitalised. How does one deal with such things? A lower level of proof is required for ASBOs than in a court case and if young offenders break the conditions of the order they may be sent to jail. In this way, one can be sent to jail on a lower level of proof.