Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I move:

That Seanad Eireann, noting:

the upsurge in the brutal killing of citizens across the country;

the dramatic increase in gun crime in our society;

the poor detection rate for gun crime; and

the inexorable growth in gangland drug-related crime

calls on the Government to admit that it, and the last Government, have failed to ensure that the streets of Ireland are safe from vicious thugs and to develop a comprehensive plan to tackle the crisis on our streets through a combination of adequate resources for our gardaí, effective criminal legislation and innovative policing methods.

I welcome the Minister to the House. I appreciate the attention he has given to the observations and issues being raised in this House.

Nobody can dispute the upsurge in brutal killings of citizens throughout the country nor the dramatic increase in gun crime in society, the poor detection rate for gun crime and the significant growth in gangland drug related crime. The Government amendment to the Fine Gael motion is significantly longer than the motion itself. The Government admits the explosion of crime under its watch when it condemns the callous disregard for human life shown by those involved in gun and gang crime and when it deplores the attacks on members of the Garda Síochána while on duty. A systemic problem exists which has not been effectively addressed by the Government.

The Fine Gael motion calls for a comprehensive plan to tackle this crisis through a combination of adequate resources for our gardaí, effective criminal legislation and innovative policing methods. That this is what is needed to tackle the upsurge in serious crime is acknowledged in the Government's amendment when it states that, "the menace posed by gun and gang crime can be tackled effectively only through the properly resourced agencies of the criminal justice system, including An Garda Síochána, operating within the effective legal framework being provided".

Therefore, on the Government's own admission, the twin obstacles to tackling serious crime are resources and legislation. In ten years, why have the resources not been provided? Why has legislation taken so long? What priority was more important than the Government's primary duty to protect its citizens? The Government has failed but it has five years to put the situation right.

The people of this country deserve an answer to one simple question. Does the Minister truly believe the measures he promises will substantially reduce serious crime? What are his targets for the implementation of these measures? Has he targets for the outcomes in terms of reported crime? Has he targets for convictions? How can we measure success? Without such targets, how can this House hold him to account? How can the people trust a Government? Without such targets and without a firm promise that the resources are adequate to tackle the problem, the Government's announcements ring hollow.

In the debate on crime held last week in the other House, the Government gave comprehensive replies to a series of questions on gangland crime, Garda numbers and the prison system. There are figures, statistics and promises to suggest that everything is being done and everything will be all right on the night. There is no sense of urgency or of a need for a change of course on any policy area. Why has it taken NASA less time to put a man on the moon and return him safely to earth then it has taken to implement the civilianisation of the Garda Síochána? The reason is there is no sense of urgency and there is an attitude of, "Sure, it will do."

The Government amendment to this motion is replete with statistics and outlines all the good things that are being done or are about to be done. The amendment states, in effect, that this is as good as it gets. This demonstrates the disjoint between Government thinking and what is happening on our streets. All is not OK. There must be a renewed focus and sense of urgency to the issue of gun and gangland crime.

Gangland crime has not been a priority because there has been a view that if criminals are killing criminals it does not matter. Apart from the absurd and malign thinking behind such sentiments, there is serious collateral damage involved in gangland crime. This is evidenced by the recent killings of a number of innocent bystanders. It was only when someone as innocent as Anthony Campbell, a hard-working young man, was gunned down purely because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time that there was a full realisation of how bad the problem has become.

The shooting of unarmed Garda Sherlock has highlighted once again the urgency of the issue and the need for a review of the arming of the police. At the very least, it has raised the need for greater armed back-up support for the force in dealing with criminal gangs.

Despite the self-congratulation evident in the Government amendment, there has been a significant deterioration in the level of serious crime. The Central Statistics Office headline crime statistics for the second quarter of this year show a 43% increase in homicide offences in the second quarter of 2007 compared with 2006; a 19% increase in murder or manslaughter offences in the 12-month period ending in the second quarter of 2007; assaults causing harm up 7% in the same 12-month period; overall drugs offences were up 30% and possession of drugs for sale or supply up 29% in the 12 months to the end of the second quarter of 2007; and an increase of almost 16% in the number of firearms discharged in the second quarter of 2007 compared with the same period last year. Between 1998 and 2006 there was an almost 600% increase in gun murders, with detection rates falling from 75% to 37% in the same period. There is no mention of these figures in the Government amendment to the motion.

It is easy for opponents of the Government to stand up indignantly and demand that well-worn solution to all of society's problems, the need for more resources. We accept that it is not possible to have a garda on every corner in the State. However, the Government has been in power for ten years and when it comes to resources, anyone selling electronic voting machines would know the purse strings have not been tight.

The self-congratulatory approach of the Government as set out in the preamble to its amendment is not acceptable. New thinking is needed but it invariably seems to fall on someone other than the Government to come up with new ideas. A Fine Gael Private Members' Bill in the other House called for mandatory alcohol testing at the scene of road accidents. Before the Dáil met yesterday and to pre-empt the debate, the Government announced the implementation of the Fine Gael policy. We welcome the Government's speedy adoption of sound policy, but when a Government is reduced to robbing the ideas of its opponents, it appears worryingly redundant.

It takes the Garda Representative Body to call for a debate on the arming of all garda. The editorial in the October edition of the Garda Review states, "We are fooling ourselves if we doubt that it might become a necessity in the not too distant future. We must have greater armed back up readily available in all areas of our cities and around the country."

It would appear that no arrangements have been put in place for greater armed back-up for unarmed gardaí. The question must be asked whether this Government has ever carried out an assessment of the need for arming units of the Garda Síochána to deal with organised crime. What are the views of the Commissioner-designate on this matter? What resources does he believe the Garda Síochána needs? How will he tackle organised crime? These are the major issues facing policing in this country and I wonder whether the Minister asked him.

It is one of the more surreal aspects of the Government's approach to this matter that as more Deputies draw ministerial salaries than ever before, fewer Ministers feel that the actions of Government have anything to do with them. I must admit I cannot name half of the new areas in which we have Ministers of State. I do know when it comes to crime, the Minister sets policy and the Garda Commissioner carries it out. If the Commissioner does not deliver the Minister can remove him. Considering this has not happened, one must assume the Minister is happy with the Garda Síochána's performance. If, as the statistics suggest, one has only a 6% chance of being convicted for murdering someone with a knife and that appallingly low conviction rate is not the fault of the Garda Síochána, I ask the Minister who is the mysterious person in Government responsible for it?

For all the litany of successes listed in the Government amendment, what has the Government really delivered after being in power for the ten years of the Celtic tiger economy when it had the resources available to invest in crime prevention? We still have run-down Garda stations, a lack of modern Garda cars and practical support for the gardaí and, as highlighted recently, a lack of armed back-up.

The Government's amendment speaks about state-of-the-art technology for the Garda Síochána. However, the latest Garda Inspectorate Report points out that:

. . . the current state of policy technology in Ireland falls well short of industry standard. For instance, mobile data devices, secure radio systems, GIS mapping, automated number plate recognition systems, investigative case management and human resources software programmes are among the many standard technology tools now well-established in many modern police services. The fact that less than 10% of Garda personnel have corporate e-mail addresses is a simple but stark example of the shortcomings and is clearly a great source of frustration to members, particularly those working on the ground.

In light of this damning indictment we can only conclude that the state-of-the-art technology referred to in the Government amendment is spin.

This Government was in power during the ten years in which sex offences came to the fore in Irish life. However, as the killer of Manuela Riedo is being hunted, gardaí waste precious hours leafing through paper files of sex offenders in their area because no national sex offenders database exists and no DNA database is available to progress it. This is not the fault of those gardaí. If the culprit is a sex offender, even if he is caught and convicted, Government policy is to release him without rehabilitation.

Communities in estates across this country cry out for help. Their children are tempted by drugs and to feed their habit commit minor crimes and fall into the criminal justice system. In some estates in west and north Dublin and Limerick, a generation of youths has its prospects of a good life ruined. Some fall further and begin pushing drugs on their neighbours. They get involved in gangs and terrorise entire communities. However, no-one makes much money apart from a small cabal of drug-traffickers and gang leaders.

Will the Minister give us a commitment on the targets he hopes to achieve during the next five years? If he does so he will receive support from this House. I appreciate he is new to his office.