Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

We would all be much happier if it was not necessary to discuss this legislation. I welcome the Minister and to compliment him on bringing forward very sensible legislation. The Bill defines the terms, "curtilage" and "dwelling". As the Minister said, people have to be free to regard their home as a place of safety and security, where they can rear their family in peace, where they can relax and rest in the evenings and where their possessions are safe and secure. The law has to support the right of the person to protect his or her home.

I am pleased the Minister has dealt with the issue of civil liability. If an intruder enters a home and in the course of committing a crime receives an injury, the homeowner is liable and may have to pay compensation to the intruder. That is an unbelievable position. I disagree to some extent with Senator Bacik. I am more inclined to agree with my colleague, Senator Bradford, that there is a perception that the law is tilted in favour of the criminal and against the law-abiding home owner. The legislation will tilt the balance back in favour of the homeowner who wants to live in peace and safety.

The issue of reasonable force will exercise the minds of many as it is a difficult concept to define, for example, in a case where an intruder is carrying a weapon or implement or there is more than one intruder and the occupant of the house fears for his or her life. Unfortunately, my home was burgled on this day four years ago. My wife arrived home only minutes after it had been burgled, pretty severely, and I am grateful she was delayed en route. I do not know what would have happened if she had arrived home in the course of the burglary. When one experiences an incident such as this it colours one's judgment. I do not know what I would have done during the burglary and gained access to a weapon. Would I have exercised reasonable force or strayed beyond what is deemed to be reasonable? One does not know the answer to that question until one has been in that specific situation.

Criminals must face deterrents and we must ensure elderly people, whether living in a rural area or city, feel safe in their homes. The law must be seen to be on their side and serious crime must be tackled. A new band of ruthless criminals is at work. I refer to individuals who are involved in drug dealing, robbery to feed a drug habit and all sorts of scams to rob and con elderly people.

I agree with colleagues who referred to the need for the Garda to be properly resourced. I am not especially worried where gardaí are located or how many Garda stations we have, provided sufficient numbers of them are available and they are in a position to mount adequate patrols. It is irrelevant whether they come from a centralised location or a local Garda station. What is important is that we have an adequate number of boots on the street and gardaí on the beat in patrol vehicles.

Criminals and thugs must be taken out of circulation. The House discussed prison places and the availability of prison space. The Minister is particularly anxious that people who are convicted of relatively minor crimes are directed towards community service, which is an objective I strongly support. Prison spaces must be available for hardened criminals and people who carry out acts of violence against elderly and defenceless people in their homes.

I commend the excellent work being done by community alert and community watch organisations and committees. My home town of Ballinasloe has a number of highly active community watch groups which receive excellent back-up and support from local gardaí. This approach should be extended and continued and greater resources directed towards this area. There is nothing as effective in tacking crime in the community than having as many people as possible watching out for unusual activity and suspicious movements.

On the question as to whether the Minister should consider increasing resources to the Garda Reserve, there are innovative ways of adding to the reserve numbers. Many of the schemes aimed at moving people from the live register into training and so forth could be developed to help in the fight against crime.

I strongly support the objective the Minister is setting out to achieve. The Bill has been a long time in gestation. As previous speakers noted, there have been many high profile cases which demonstrate the need to implement this sensible legislation. In welcoming the Bill I am pleased that, thus far, all speakers and parties have indicated their support for it. We must also keep an eye on resources and support all agencies that can assist in the fight against crime in order that people living in rural areas and cities such as Dublin and Galway feel safer in their homes. If we cannot protect the elderly and ensure the home is the safest place in our community, we do not deserve the title of civilised society.

I compliment the Minister and his predecessors on the work they have done to bring the Bill before the House. I also commend the Law Reform Commission on its efforts in this regard and the Member who introduced a Private Members' Bill on this issue in the other House some years ago. I am pleased to support the Bill.