John Whelan (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the decision of the Minister, Deputy Shatter, to come here today. I realise that he has a great deal of responsibility on his plate. I think it is important that he is present to hear our concerns and views at first hand. The House has to be grateful to the Minister for giving such a thorough and comprehensive response to this Private Members' motion.

Having said that, it is important for the Minister to hear from us about the genuine fears of people. These fears are not groundless. Perhaps the Minister will take them into account in the development and implementation of future policy. We may have inherited these problems from the previous Government - its recklessness has been well rehearsed during this debate - but it does not follow that we should adopt that Government's policies. I have serious concerns that the rapport, mutual respect and special relationship that normally exists between the Garda and the Government of the day is under great strain. I urge the Minister to do everything he can to try to restore and rebuild that relationship.

I am in favour of smart policing. I am fully in favour of reform and change if it results in a more effective way of doing things. The PULSE system is often referred to as one of the most important resources as changes are introduced to make our system of policing more modern. The PULSE system that I rely on is having the finger on the pulse in towns, villages and communities throughout the country and listening to members of the Garda Síochána.

I understand that over 350 officers attended last night's GRA meeting in Cork. I note with some disquiet that they voted unanimously to take strike action, in effect, which would be a very serious step. It is a reflection of the low morale in the Garda. It would almost be tantamount to mutiny in the force. I implore the GRA and the AGSI to step back from that kind of action. It is a two-way street. I ask the Minister to meet the GRA and the AGSI halfway. This is not just about Garda stations. The point and the case we are making is not as simplistic as that. It is about Garda resources, patrols and visibility. It is about local knowledge.

Throughout November, I repeatedly raised the serious incidents that were happening in Mountmellick, sometimes in broad daylight. The citizens of the town are afraid to traverse the main street and go about their business. I could not have conjured up a headline - "Sledgehammer Attack" - in the edition of my local paper that was published yesterday. The headline, in the Leinster Express, relates to an attack on a lone garda in Mountmellick in the early hours of Monday morning. That is an example of the kind of challenge and the kind of problem being faced by gardaí.

A good point made by Senator Landy needs to be considered. It is unfortunate that we proceeded with the closure of Garda stations before we rolled out the deployment of the new Garda vehicles. To be fair, the Minister took the wise decision to make resources available for those vehicles. My understanding was that the 212 new patrol vehicles which were purchased last year were to be deployed in December 2012 and January 2013. I have not seen any of them in the Laois-Offaly Garda division or in other parts of the country. A strategic mistake was made because people would have felt more reassured and heartened if they had seen those vehicles on the beat prior to the closure of the Garda stations.

Gardaí are law-abiding people. They are not militant. They are supporters of the State and of the Government. I believe they think their pay and basic working conditions are under attack at the moment. Serving members of the force have told me that gardaí with up to 20 years' service are now relying on credit to get by. I have been informed that since 2007, gardaí have taken a 26% cut in their effective rate of pay. I am aware of Garda families that are applying for and receiving family income supplement. Now more pay cuts are proposed. I do not think the Minister for Justice and Equality would like to see any serving member of the Garda being reduced to this level. This has traditionally been regarded as a good and well-paid job.

As a Government, we must do everything we can to regain the trust of gardaí and retain their expertise and vast experience. I am a supporter and advocate of Community Alert schemes. I am involved in such a scheme in my own rural community of Timahoe and Ratheniska. Our local scheme was established through Muintir na Tíre with the assistance of a retired superintendent. If we are to deter unscrupulous criminals from engaging in these activities throughout the countryside, we need deterrents other than text alerts. We need highly-motivated gardaí on the beat with modern patrol cars. Their response times should be quick enough to reassure rural people that they are not isolated or being left alone. We must be careful with the use of statistics. They can be applied in all sorts of ways. I do not think the reality on the ground is necessarily borne out in the statistics we are using.

I was glad to hear the Minister say that the Garda buildings which are being vacated can be put to positive community use. This is important. I echo and support the views of a member of Dublin City Council, Mannix Flynn, who has pointed out that these buildings are in important locations and form an important part of our policing heritage, tradition and history across the length and breadth of the country. It would be a disaster if they were to fall into disrepair, to be vandalised or to be pilfered. I encourage the Minister to ensure they are retained, maintained and managed so they can be put to good use. They should not be allowed to decay or to be lost to the community.

Notwithstanding the budgetary challenges the Minister is facing, I urge him to try to re-engage with the GRA and the AGSI. If he can get them back to the table, they should start with a clean sheet. I urge the associations to meet the Minister halfway in that regard.