Denis O'Donovan (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

"To delete all words after 'Seanad Éireann' and substitute the following:
-noting that Garda numbers have fallen from a peak of 14,500 in 2010 to approximately 12,900 today;
-acknowledging the fact that over 139 Garda stations and 17 courthouses have been closed since 2011;
-recognising that many of our prisons are over capacity and that over 600 prisoners are on temporary release;
-highlighting the fact that murder increased in Ireland by 33.3% from the second quarter of 2013 to the second quarter of 2014 while burglary offences
increased by 1,072 and theft offences went up by 930 in Dublin in the same period; and
-agreeing that the thousands of bench warrants and court summons which remain outstanding fundamentally undermine our criminal justice system;

calls on the Government to-

-establish a new dedicated Garda Síochána public order unit for Dublin city centre to address the serious anti-social behaviour on the capital's main
thoroughfares;
-commit to the recruitment of 500 extra gardaí next year;
-outline detailed plans to tackle the prevalence of drugs in both urban and rural areas in Ireland;
-protect the Department of Justice and Equality budget from any reduction in resources in 2015; and
-develop a new national criminal justice strategy to improve the functioning of our court and prison systems."

In proposing the amendment, I am not doing so in an adversarial or cantankerous way, but justice is such a major remit. I wish the Minister, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, well in her portfolio. It is not an easy task; it is huge and unwieldy and one of the most demanding ministerial portfolios. I do so to highlight a number of issues. I am aware that in the Budget Statement there was a mention of extra gardaí which I welcome but there has been a substantial reduction in numbers from 14,500 in 2010 to approximately 12,900 today. I acknowledge that in the Budget Statement there is a mention of another tranche of new gardaí, but 139 Garda stations have been closed throughout the country. Many of these are in rural areas, including west Cork, such as in Goleen which is a peripheral area where one of the largest finds of cocaine to be brought into the country was found off Dunlough Bay. Local gardaí in remote peninsulas have a very important role to play.
Some 17 courthouses have been closed since 2011. My constituency is remote and peripheral. Castletownbere is a 90 minute to two hour drive from Cork City and its courthouse has been closed. The Beara peninsula has no courthouse, while Schull, Glengarriff, Dunmanway and Kinsale courthouses have been closed. The Courts Service now plans to close Skibbereen courthouse and the plan is to have one major Garda station in west Cork. If a person in Sheep's Head peninsula, Mizen, Allihies or Goleen is charged with bald types, he or she has to go to Bandon courthouse. As there are no Luas or bus services in the area, one has a drive of 90 minutes to get to the courthouse. I raised this matter with the Law Society, and I do not place the blame on the Minister, because it is an issue of major significance for the West Cork Bar Association, of which I was formerly a member and a former secretary. I met the president and chairperson and people such as a former colleague, Mr. Jim O'Keeffe, are concerned at the decline and loss of courthouses in rural Ireland.
An issue that annoyed the west Cork barristers is that in Dublin where a number of courthouses were due to be closed, one of which was in Dundrum, the Law Society met the Minister's predecessor and said the courthouses could not close, following which the plans to close courthouses in Dublin were reversed. While the Minister may say this is a matter for the Courts Service, her predecessor, Deputy Alan Shatter, met representatives of the Law Society and whatever Bar association and prevented the closure of courthouses in Dublin. There is no place in Dublin or the greater Dublin area that is as remote as places in west Cork or Donegal where many small courthouses are being closed. I accept that it may be reasonable to close courthouses such as Glengarriff and Dunmanway but it is a question of where does the buck stop. When I was a young solicitor and prior to that time, there was always a Circuit Court in Bantry but that is closed. If one has to go to the Circuit Court, it appears one will have to use the Cork city services. That is a local hobby horse issue. As there appears to be a race to the bottom in the closing of Garda stations and courthouses, I ask the Minister to take the issue on board.
Our amendment recognises that many of our prisons are over capacity and that more than 600 prisoners are on temporary release. I wish to highlight the fact that murder increased in Ireland by 33% between the second quarter of 2013 and the second quarter of 2014. It is a frightening statistic that murders in Ireland in a given year have increased by a third while burglary offences increased by 1,072 and theft offences increased by 930 in Dublin in the same period. I know the Minister has to be vigilant and ensure that burglaries, thefts and the heinous crime of murder, in so far as possible, can be controlled.
We agree that thousands of bench warrants and court summons which remain outstanding fundamentally undermine our criminal justice system. I read today, with some concern, of a district judge in some part of Ireland who threw out hundreds of speeding summons on a technicality. Lives are being lost on the roads because of speeding. When I was a young solicitor, there was a famous case, Duggan v. Evans, in which the particular decision of the High Court was that justice should not be denied on the basis of technicalities. Perhaps that is an issue the Minister would have a look at again.
We believe that a new dedicated Garda Síochána public order unit should be established for Dublin city centre where anti-social behaviour on the capital's main thoroughfares is common. On a number of occasions in the past two or three years, Senator Tom Sheahan said it was not safe to walk O'Connell Street and many other streets in Dublin at night. That is an awful statement but I am sure he made it in good faith given the chances of being mugged or attacked.
I call on the Government to outline its plans to tackle the prevalence of drugs in both urban and rural areas in Ireland. As a result of measures undertaken by this and previous Governments, the drug problem in Limerick has been stymied and, hopefully, diminished. It has been a great success but it took a great deal of Garda resources. That effort will have to be duplicated in Dublin in so far as possible. I am not saying it is the Minister's fault - it is society's fault - but it is sad that hardly a week goes by when a person is not shot in a bar by gangsters. We have to be extra vigilant. That is the reason we say that extra efforts have to be made in Dublin.
The Minister has a very large Department. In any legislation she introduces the major difficulty for her is financial resources. I do not propose our amendment in a spurious way or in an effort to be antagonistic but we rarely have general debates. I appreciate what my colleague, Senator Martin Conway, said that the motion has to do with policing and the new committees that have been set up, but I would question their success rate. It is good to have a general debate on law and order and on justice matters. This was an appropriate vehicle for us to propose this amendment.