Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

For a number of weeks I have been asking for the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to attend this House to discuss a number of items, including prison overcrowding, the amount of drugs in prisons and attacks on the elderly. We saw the statistics yesterday, which show that burglaries are up significantly. For the first time, the Garda Commissioner has said that something drastic will have to be done. The Government is perceived as being soft on crime. It is a far cry from the policy of zero tolerance that was advocated by the same party not so long ago. The Minister should attend the House to address these problems, which people want to see solved. He should not address them over the airwaves, he should be here to speak about the policies necessary to tackle law and order. People should fear the repercussions of breaking the law, but they do not at present.